This is a good movie for a society which has become appreciative of LGBTs over time. The movie tells the story (and struggles) of Trisha Echevarria (Paolo Ballesteros), a transgender who was disowned by his rich father and survived on his own by joining beauty contests. He adopted a young girl and raised the family by the meager amounts he get from joining these pageants. Typical struggles of transgenders were given emphasis in the film: discrimination from the family, from the community, and from men. The title is Die Beautiful because it shows his life in throwback form: he starts dead here. He instructed his bestfriend that in case he dies, he should be shown beautiful in his coffin. He has to look like "someone" in all the 7 days of his wake.
The two-hour runtime may seem long to some, but I even think it was not enough. I wanted to see more. I even expected it to be light-hearted all through out because gay humor. But what I didn't expect is that it was very heartwarming and dramatic. Paolo Ballesteros deserved the awards that he got (both local and international) because he did really cement his role perfectly. He was a boy, he was a gay, he was a celebrity, became a transgender--all in this film! He was a son, a daughter, a sibling, a mother, a bestfriend, a pageant candidate, and a celebrity look-alike. Paolo Ballesteros has now become a household name because of this.
I have to give a shout-out to the other lead star in the film: Christian Bables. He was perfect in his role as the bestfriend of Trisha. Both leads were amazing in their portrayals.
Highly recommended.
