This indie film is a really powerful look at how a community can suffocate you and the hidden corners young people have to find just to be themselves in so many European towns, even with all the progress we've seen lately. The whole story plays out while the town is bracing for a massive, raging flood, and you just can't shake the feeling that some kind of intense reckoning or unavoidable doom is headed their way. To be honest, I didn't go in with super high expectations, but the way it’s put together makes it a seriously compelling watch. Plus, it’s not every day you get to see an LGBT-themed movie coming out of Croatia! The story follows Marko, a popular 18-year-old kid who seems to have it all—he’s got a girlfriend, he’s a competitive arm wrestler, and he’s well-liked at school. When he isn't in class, he’s usually hanging out with his brother, who has a disability, or helping his mom out in her greenhouse. Everything gets flipped upside down when a guy named Slaven ...
It's been sometime since Trisha passed away and Barbs now works full time at "Happy Endings" funeral home. She is in love with her boyfriend Greg, even though he is married. She breaks off that relationship when he hits her. On top of that when she also loses her best friend, Barbs decides to embark on a conversion therapy. She removes her breasts and starts to live again as Bobby. In the camp called Way of Light, she undergoes various activities, including a night out to a bar, that will cure her sexual identity. But when Bobby is raped by the therapy priest, Bobby quits the program, leaving the camp in tears. He wants to move back to being Barbs and meets Michael Angelo, who is Trisha's ex-boyfriend. The two fall in love soon after, but he also turns out to be married. This time Barbs decides to give in, seeing that he is not hiding her from his wife and somehow the wife has also given in. Greg comes back into picture, pleads to take him back and Barb decides to get back with him. She is now dating both and the night that the two men find out truth, Barbs has another shocker in store, when a girl shows up pregnant claiming to be carrying bobby's baby from the night he had sex with a prostitute during his conversion therapy days. With three people vying for Barbs attention, she decides to not make a choice and offer them all her love and support.
Eventually this film is a story about boundless love, courage in speaking your truth, and acceptance by living your authentic self. Barbs is unapologetic about her sexuality and knows her wants and desires, a bold defiance against male-centric traditions and a firm declaration of queer identity. It is not serious and uses humour to take on serious issues, such as homophobia and non-monogamous relationship. It doesn't intend to solve anything, but instead opens up conversations generally considered taboo. I was actually surprised with how different the film was from its prequel, which showed more of an emotional story. Some humour occasionally fell flat but overall it was decent. Its sequences strung together like episodes of a sitcom rather than a feature length film. Barbs, mama Flora and the other girls keep the proceedings lively and the 2 boyfriends bring in the added hotness. The whole pregnant angle was unnecessary in my opinion. But the scattered plot brilliantly converges towards a single point, which is to celebrate the limitlessness of loving.
Despite its tiny flaws, Born Beautiful has a humongous heart. It's confident, funny and refuses to be contained by morality. The prequel asked for acceptance, this time around, not everyone will die beautiful, but everyone was born beautiful and deserves to live beautiful. (7/10)
Comments