MQFF REVIEW: Quick Change (2013, Dir. Eduardo W. Roy Jr.)

Dorina (Mimi Juareza) is a purveyor of collagen implants to Manila's ladyboy community. Trans herself, she traverses the city, her young nephew in tow, bringing the gift of full lips, high cheekbones and shapely backsides to her long list of pageant queen clients. Well, at a price.

Director Eduardo Roy Jr. revels in the exuberance of Dorina's subculture. There's a nice roll to the patter of the girls as they parade their bodies and throw shade at one another and there's plenty of both humour and heart to go round. There's even a dash of flesh; Dorina's relationship with her dancer boyfriend may be underdeveloped but the eye candy more than makes up for that.

Quick Change is crisply shot (refreshing after the fuzzy projection of the previous feature), and the controlled handheld camerawork does well to capture the vibrant chaos of Manila's streets. The location shots clamour with activity and colour, just as the slightly over the top performances bring a snap to the drama.

But there's a subtle drift to Quick Change that doesn't become apparent until Dorlinda has taken the audience well and truly down the rabbit hole. The ostentatious glitter and glamour of the pageant queens' lives never disintegrates completely but the grotesqueness of their transformations and the physical and physiological damage they are inflicting on themselves comes into ever clearer focus.  For her part, Dorlinda's faith in her services ebbs away prick by prick until the inevitable disaster strikes.

The almost imperceptible change in Quick Change is the film's most impressive achievement. At the end of his film Roy leaves his audience in a very different place from where he began, which is remarkable considering the effervescence of the film's opening.

Soberingly entertaining.

★★★ 

Trailer:

Quick Change screened as part of the 2014 Melbourne Queer Film Festival.