‘Marupok A+’ explores catfishing amidst discrimination towards trans community

CEBU, Philippines — Split into three parts backed with ‘receipts’, Tero detailed her ordeal of how she was scammed by a multimedia artist based in Manila who paired her with a certain “Bill Iver” on a dating app. But the man does not exist.

It was an elaborate scheme that required the multimedia artist and her friends to spend money, including hiring an actor to cosplay as “Bill Iver.” Her reasoning for the scheme? The multimedia artist claimed she was bullied by gay people and this was her way to exact revenge on those identifying themselves with the community.

“She and her friends would target gay/trans people, make them fall in love, and then ghost them. That’s how it started with me when they found out I was trans,” Tero wrote in her 2020 thread.

Her posts on X became the inspiration for Henares' directing comeback titled “Marupok A+” or “Where is the Lie?” as its alternative title when it was shown in festivals overseas such as the Slamdance Film Festival and the New York Film Festival in 2023.

Releasing exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas including Ayala Center Cebu and Ayala Malls Central Bloc starting today, July 10, the LGBTQIA+ comedy-drama stars Maris Racal, Royce Cabrera, and EJ Jallorina.

Racal plays Beanie Landridos based on the multimedia artist behind the catfishing scam, while Jallorina plays Janzen Torres based on Tero. Cabrera plays Theo Balmaceda, the actor who puts on a show as “Dennis”, Torres’ fake boyfriend created by Beanie.

At that time when Tero’s thread went viral on social media, Henares was the former head of ANIMA Studios (formerly Globe Studios) which oversaw the development of critically acclaimed films like “Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral” starring Paulo Avelino and crowd favorites “LSS (Last Song Syndrome)” led by Khalil Ramos and Gabbi Garcia.

He has not directed a single flick since he stepped in as producer for the Kroma Entertainment-owned studio. His last film, “My Candidate”, starring Derek Ramsey, came out in 2016.

“I remember a producer [from Globe Studios] told me to make a movie and that thread came at a perfect time. I knew what we were gonna do for my next movie,” Henares told The FREEMAN in a virtual interview.

Before, Henares would make the shot list on the day of filming. Sitting back at the director’s chair with his experience as a producer in mind, he came in much prepared and would stick to the shooting schedule as much as possible to avoid overtime.

Originally titled “Marupok AF” when it was shown in Cinemalaya last year, Henares was compelled to explore the different points of view of why anyone would conduct this catfishing scheme, let alone participate in it.

“They didn’t make money from doing this, yet they were buying hotel rooms and expensive lunches and dinners. Why would they do that?” Henares explained.

“There were people involved. There was a person who did the voice, a person who did the video, and a person who did the texting. It was like a barkada. I wanted to understand why they did that.”

He co-wrote the script with John Paul Bedia, mostly based on Tero’s point of view as the filmmakers consulted with her. They were not able to reach out to the perpetrators of the scheme including its mastermind.

Racal’s role as Beanie is described as “charming” based on what they heard about the inspiration behind her character.

“She’s a ‘kind evil’ that you thought you should root for this person which is quite disturbing,” Henares described.

He praised the Kapamilya actress’ performance during the film’s press conference on July 4 in Makati, remarking: “It was great to see [Racal] become evil personified.”

The film featured scenes where some of Cebu’s recognizable sites can be spotted, such as the Sugbo Mercado in IT Park, Cebu City where the fictionalized Tero played by Jallorina was eating dinner when she received a message on a dating app.

The Cebu scenes were shot in 2021 during the pandemic and before the destruction of Super Typhoon Odette.

Jallorina, who is not Cebuana, relied on her consultation with Cebuana actress Chai Fonacier who was on set even if she was not shooting scenes where she plays one of Torres’ close friends.

Also serving as a consultant on-set was transgender director Rod Singh from Drag Den with Manila Luzon who helped Henares shoot a non-nude love scene involving Jallorina’s character.

While Henares shot love scenes before such as the 2001 bold movie “Gamitan” starring Maui Taylor, he believed that there were “certain sensibilities” needed that required Singh to step in as the film’s de-facto intimacy coordinator.

While the director described the intimate scene as “tastefully done”, he speculated that it might have been one of the reasons why “Marupok A+” got an X-rating from the Movie and Television Review Classification Board (MTRCB), disallowing the film to be shown in cinemas.

As it was originally scheduled to be released during Pride Month last June, the X rating delayed its release to July 10. The filmmakers had to make adjustments to ensure its public release.

In his June 26 thread on X, he felt that the rating was unfair as the raunchy comedy “I Am Not Big Bird” starring Enrique Gil (also produced by ANIMA Studios) got an R-16 rating in its initial review and also had non-nude sexual scenes.

The censors also disapproved of the “AF” acronym in the movie’s name, which the marketing materials had to change to the censors-approved “Marupok A+”.

Aiming for an R-16 rating, Henares wrote in his appeal letter to the MTRCB that their target audience would already know what “AF” means. He also said that revising the film’s opening title when it was already picture-locked would be costly since Filipino movies released in theaters this year are not doing well financially.

“Replacing ‘Marupok AF’ with ‘Marupok A+’ involves hiring a graphic artist and an editor, plus putting it through digital cinema processing again. That's 100K for the most insane reason ever. This in a year when not a single Pinoy movie has made a profit and producers are suffering,” he said in his thread.

In their re-evaluation, the MTRCB has rated “Marupok A+” as an “R-18” film for frequent swears and “extended sex scenes.” They noted that the film is “timely and discusses current social issues relevant to the mature audience.”

The revised cut allowed for the original title to be spelled out as “Marupok As F—-” at the end of the movie, which confused the director. “Shaking. My. Godd—. Head”, he reacted with bewilderment on his thread.

Henares hoped that people who will watch “Marupok A+” would understand the Filipino transgender community better with the prejudices they are facing in society today.

He added that the subject of the film herself has yet to see the movie. Currently based in Tel Aviv, Tero wrote on her X post on June 15, four years after sharing her ordeal: “I have a copy of the film. Still finding the courage to watch it.” — (FREEMAN)