Boys will be boys
ONE of the engaging cinematic features that you may watch on the AQPrime Streaming app is Niokz Arcegas’s Losers -1, Suckers - 0. Its amateurish feels, creative crudeness, and novel take on why boys will always be boys, give its some kind of wonderful charm and hook, and it satisfies as a happy entertainment viewing fare.
Losers -1, Suckers -0 is one part coming-of-age, one part the naughtiness and playfulness of boys and their quest to becoming “real men.”
It’s another part is dark fantasy, with the perfect amount of allure, and an equal blend of how life experiences transform them from hormonedriven boys to men with a deeper comprehension of love, women, and the unexpected twists of life.
This motion picture with a quartet of juveniles as its leads namely Jayden Bravo (Alex), Charles Temones (Mac), Khiester Bernardino (Boogs), and Bench Manalon (Spanky) are the resident campus losers. They work well as a barkadahan but sadly, they are constantly bullied and are unpopular with their female classmates. Adding more burden to their masculinity and existence is the fact that all of them are relative virgins. For the four, this is the kryptonite that makes them weaker and unlovable, and the bane of their humdrum existence
Eager beavers to end their virginities and assert their passed- on concept of what makes a man a real man, the universe conspired to grant them their wish and by some cosmic design, they discover online a hypnotic and intriguing enclave called Casa Esmeralda. With this discovery, they follow the calling of their loins with high hopes that their dream of an orgasmic sexual congress happen in the casa. The boys are in for the biggest page- turner of their lives as the house offers more than what they expected.
What makes the Arcegas-directed streaming flick watchable are its four leads whose earnestness and commitment to showcasing the desire and longing of boys during their age of curiosity and conquest is funny and real.
From bullied virgins to survivors who learned to appreciate and respect gender differences, this story highlights the unimaginable challenges they faced and how they developed a deeper understanding of love and relationships.
Bravo, Temones, Bernardino, and Manlon (reads like the name of a prominent law firm) are the fantastic four newbies who played their roles with rawness and sincerity. Their chemistry, palpable and pulsating, friendship believable on screen.
Director Arcega’s narrative explores the lives of campus outcasts and their path to redemption, shedding light on the various cliques that exist on campus, clueless authority figures, and the significance of gender differences. What the narrative says does not border on the preachy and pretentiousness, simple lang, pero rock, as they say in Filipino slang. The young filmmaker knows the teen landscape, what makes them tick and click, and we can expect that he has more stories to tell about the wonder years and the power of the youth.
The casting of seasoned actors Ara Mina and Marcus Madrigal is ace of the movie as well. As Esmeralda, the awardwinning Mina is a hypnotic vixen with a body to die for. Her character is a lady who empowers women treated unfairly and unjustly and gave them the means to implement revenge.
The always reliable Madrigal, on the other hand, portrays Principal/Tito Art with a lot of paternal energy who just wants his students to be responsible and focus on their learning.
Losers -1, Suckers -0 is a welcome addition and definitely one of the better offerings of AQ Prime offerings that is worth everyone’s while and hard-earned pesos. A simple story of boys being boys and how they became men, big time. It is an assurance that youth indeed is not wasted on the young for as long as the learnings from their growing-up experiences are taken in and remain in their hearts and are now thrown out the windows.