Bakwit Boys (2018) is a Philippine musical drama film. It stars Nikko Natividad (Philip), Vance Larena (Elias), Mackie Empuerto (Sonny), and Ryle Paolo Santiago (Joey) as four brothers, who are forced to leave their hometown after it is devastated by a super typhoon. They then meet a city girl named Rose who discovers their talent and wants to help them succeed, played by Devon Seron.
The film premiered on August 15, 2018, as an entry in the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Festival of Filipino Films). The first word of its title is a Filipino slang term, a localization of "evacuate," (obviously) referring to evacuees. The film was directed and written by Jason Paul Laxamana, a real-life survivor of Mt. Pinatubo's eruption in 1991 that devastated Pampanga and forced his family to flee. The songs were composed by Jhaye Cura. Beware of spoilers!
Bakwit Boys provides examples of:
- The Atoner: Rose, which is the very reason she pushes for the boys' success in the first place. Her father screwed over their hometown after a super typhoon. She finds her calling by the end: helping impoverished kids.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Sonny is a little boy. His brothers are teens or young adults.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: Philip was already crushing on Rose, but hearing her sing for the first time leaves him even more smitten.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- The boys lived through a calamity that wrecked their town and forced them to evacuate.
- Rose is the offspring of an incredibly corrupt politician's mistress. She can't do anything about her father's crimes, but is desperate to atone.
- Folk Music: The boys' lolo loves to strum his guitar and sing folk tunes in the Kapampangan language.
- Meaningful Name: Rose, like the flower after which she was named, is beautiful. However, she isn't all pleasant; her thorns come in the form of a morally bankrupt father.
- Race for Your Love: In the end, Elias teases Philip that he'll run after Rose if Philip just stares after her. Philip does run for Rose, as shown by a post-credits scene.
- Ship Tease: Elias is unmistakably flustered and quickly covers up a possible boner when he sees Rose for the first time. In the final scene, he also tells Philip that if he doesn't run after Rose, then he'll chase after her instead. Philip and Rose are the Official Couple, however.
- Sins of Our Fathers: Rose pays the price for lying about her father.
- Tenor Boy: Sonny is one of the main characters in the film, and he naturally has the highest register, being a child.
- Trauma Button: Sonny wakes up sobbing and screaming when it starts raining one night. During another, they remark that it's equally unsettling to be in bed on a clear, peaceful night.
- Uptown Girl: Played with. Rose is evidently better-off than the titular "Bakwit Boys," but she gets more and more hesitant to use the riches stored in her bank account because they're a product of her Dad's corrupt crimes. Her father turns out to be the senator who fucked over the town of Isabela, from where the Boys hailed, for his own gain and profit. She eventually lies to the boys and tells them she has no cash.
- Will They or Won't They?: Philip and Rose. For a while, it seems like they won't, but a post-credits scene implies that they very well could end up together, especially as Rose has redeemed herself.
