Patay Gutom Review: Warm, Queer, and Uneven

Patay Gutom is warm, easy to watch, and proudly queer. Agot Isidro is terrific, but uneven visuals, convenient storytelling, an underwhelming soundtrack, and chemistry that never fully clicks keep the film from becoming as compelling as its premise could have been.

Watching Patay Gutom reminded me of Wansapanataym, and I mean that as a compliment. It has that familiar mix of the supernatural, family drama, humor, sentimentality, and a life lesson somewhere underneath. It feels like the kind of fantasy story many Filipinos grew up watching on television, except this time a queer romance gets to sit comfortably at the center of it.

A visual idea stronger than its execution

The rotoscoped animation is impossible to ignore, and in concept, it fits. A supernatural story like this benefits from looking slightly removed from reality, and there are scenes where the treatment gives Patay Gutom a distinct fantasy quality.

Rotoscoping can already feel jarring at first simply because it is not something the eyes encounter often in live-action storytelling. Ideally, that unfamiliarity settles once the film establishes its visual language. Patay Gutom never quite gets there for me. The treatment is pushed so heavily, with enough variation in polish from scene to scene, that the eye keeps having to readjust instead of eventually settling into the style. Its overexecution keeps the technique noticeable when it should already feel familiar.

The sound engineering around the supernatural elements produces a similar reaction. It is effective at first and gives the film an appropriately strange quality, but repetition gradually makes the treatment feel overstated.

I expected more from the soundtrack too. With romance, grief, fantasy, and family all in the mix, there was plenty of room for music to become part of the film's identity. Instead, the score does its job without leaving much of an impression.

The performances work better than the romance

Khalil Ramos and Ian Pangilinan are both easy performers to watch, and the film gives them charming moments together. What never fully develops is the chemistry between them. The romance asks for an emotional pull that does not consistently come through, which keeps some distance between the audience and a relationship meant to carry much of the film.

Agot Isidro, meanwhile, is excellent. She brings a grounded emotional presence to a movie surrounded by heightened visuals and supernatural elements. Nothing feels forced, and she knows when to hold back. Her restraint makes the performance even more effective and, for me, hers is the one that stays with you.

Good pacing, convenient storytelling

Pacing is actually one of the things Patay Gutom gets right. It moves easily and never feels particularly laborious. My problem is more with the storytelling itself.

The direction of the narrative becomes easy to anticipate earlier than it probably should, while some plot devices feel a little too convenient. There are also ideas that could have used more time to breathe before the movie moves on.

I do not mind that Patay Gutom is straightforward. It is not trying to be an indie film that buries every thought under several layers of symbolism so everyone has to explain it afterward. Its accessibility is part of the charm. I only wish the simplicity of the storytelling did not occasionally turn into convenience.

The humor follows the same easygoing approach. You probably will not be laughing out loud throughout, but it has its moments. The film is more interested in being warm and amusing than outright hilarious, which works for most of the runtime.

Its lighter and heavier impulses do not always blend as smoothly. Because the film establishes such a gentle tone, some of its more serious material can feel more pronounced by comparison.

A mental health subplot with worthwhile ideas

The film touches on mental health without making it the center of the story. There are worthwhile ideas in the subplot, and it would have been unreasonable to expect the movie to explore every aspect of the subject in depth when it has several other things to juggle.

What could have been stronger is the balance of emphasis. The film acknowledges healthier ways of coping alongside more difficult aspects of mental health, but the constructive side could have been given enough emotional weight to resonate just as clearly.

Queerness without making queerness the problem

One of the things I appreciated most about Patay Gutom is seeing queer characters exist in a story where identity is not automatically turned into the problem everyone has to overcome.

Acceptance, self-acceptance, family, and the different ways queer people understand themselves all have a place in the film. It also recognizes that queer experiences are not universal and can be shaped by the time and circumstances in which someone grew up.

The representation works because queerness exists alongside the rest of their lives rather than swallowing the story whole. It is not simply a matter of putting two men into a supernatural romance and calling the job done.

Food, memory, and brand placement that actually works

Food is more than decorative background here. Patay Gutom connects it with memory, affection, family, and tradition in a way that suits the film naturally.

Some of the cultural practices around food were not personally familiar to me, including atang, which is not something we practice in my family. The film nevertheless makes its emotional significance easy enough to understand without requiring prior familiarity.

Even the brand placement works surprisingly well. It never felt like the film suddenly stopped so a product could get its beauty shot. The brand feels more like part of the characters' everyday familiarity, which makes its presence considerably less intrusive than product placement often is.

Is Patay Gutom worth watching?

Patay Gutom has its moments, sometimes very good ones, but it never became as compelling as I hoped it would. The visual concept is better than its inconsistent execution, the supernatural sound treatment becomes overused, the soundtrack could have contributed more, the storytelling leans on convenience, and the romance needed stronger chemistry.

There is still plenty here that works. The pacing is good, Agot Isidro gives a terrific performance, and its approach to queer identity has more thought behind it than simply treating representation as a checkbox.

I also do not want queer representation to mean pretending every queer movie is great. I want enough queer movies that one can simply be a warm, imperfect, entertaining story without having to carry an entire community on its back.

Patay Gutom is still worth the watch. It is a good escape with real flaws and real charms, and there is value in seeing a Filipino supernatural romance give queer characters the same space for love, humor, family, grief, and fantasy as anyone else.

★★★☆☆