In recent years, several gay short films have been produced in the Phlippines, and some of them are really worth watching. Masalimuot Ya Tiyagew Es Dayat (English title: Summer Blues in Tondaligan Beach) is definitely one of them.

The plot is simple; I'll give a synopsis, without spoiling the ending (warning: it is not happy).

Luis returns to his native town from Manila where he is about to graduate and spends a day on the beach with Federico, his childhood friend. Levi, the third friend, is going to join them later as he is still working.

Luis and Federico drink beer, smoke a vape joint, and recall their happy childhood days. Luis says that he may have to move back in with his parents for lack of money, and Federico states ”Being an adult sucks”.

They dance, wildly first, but when the music gets slow, they dance cheek to cheek. When they start caressing each other, Luis pushes Federico away, who goes swimming. Luis follows him, and they are floating on the water, getting closer, but drifting apart again. They fool around under water, again getting close.

Back on the beach, Luis seems to be scared, because something which he doesn't want Federico to mention must have happened here in the past. Luis asks Federico if there has been an offering to the sirens, which Federico dismisses as ”old wives tales”.

Then Federico challenges Luis to race to a buoy far out in the water, and only one of the boys returns to the beach.

The whole movie is set in a small area of a beach, and except for the final few minutes, there are only Luis and Federico. So the movie comes across like an open air chamber play. It's a coming-of-age story, and a beautiful one, if you ask me. The atmosphere is joyful at times, but especially Luis can't hide his fear of growing up and facing his true self which would mean facing his feelings for his childhood friend Federico. Federico, on the other hand, seems to have accepted that he is gay.

Both lead actors, Kych Minemoto (Federico) and Zeiah Mejia, are absolutely credible in personifying their respective characters. We can understand that Luis is scared when he finds himself caressing Federico, and we also understand that Federico doesn't exactly know how to deal with his friend's inhibition.

Directing, cinematography, and editing are all high quality, the pacing of the plot is good, and the setting is carefully chosen.

To sum it up: this is another example of a quality Pinoy gay short film which you won't want to miss. It's free to watch at youtube.