Review of The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (2005) by Graham B — 27 Apr 2014

Maximo Oliveros is the genderqueer son of a criminal family. His mother has passed away and he now keeps house for his father and two brothers whilst their shady dealings provide. A new policeman moves into the neighbourhood. Young and idealistic. One night he saves Maximo from an assault and a kinship is formed. Pretty soon Maximo has fallen into infatuation with the policeman (victor) and his loyalty to his family becomes rather stretched.

An admirable blatantly low budget second film from director Auraeus Solito. The realism of the Filipino slum setting is overwhelming. Combining actual residents with the actors is key here and brings a thoroughly believable atmosphere. The newcomer Nathan Lopez is delightful in the lead. He needs to work on his crying acting though. Constant sniffing proved most annoying.

It is a worthwhile watch, but by no means a perfect film. It takes a good while to get going. A strange start with Maximo playing at Miss World with his girlfriends went on for far too long. The establishment of the locale's acceptance of Maximo's genderqueerness and his own comfort in it was established quite quickly. The storyline just took forever to get started. Once it did though, you are brought in and it is a wonder where it will go.

Satisfying ending? I'll leave it to you to decide.