Marupok AF (Where Is The Lie?) is a 2023 PhilippineLGBTcomedy-thriller film[1] directed by Quark Henares under Anima Studio and First Cut Lab starring EJ Jallorina, Royce Cabrera, and Maris Racal.
Premise
Marupok AF features Janzen Torres (EJ Jallorina) a transgender woman and hopeless romantic. Determined to find a boyfriend she turns to online dating where she meets Theo Balmaceda (Royce Cabrera). They agree to meet in real life but Torres would get ghosted by her online boyfriend.
Cast
EJ Jallorina as Janzen Torres, an interior design student and transgender woman
Royce Cabrera as Theo Balmaceda / Dennis, a young man who Torres meets in a dating app
Maris Racal as Beanie Landridos, an art director who catfishes LGBT people online
Production
Maruopok AF was produced under Anima Studios under the direction of Quark Henares.[2] It was made with the support of the 2022 Full Circle Lab Philippines Editing Lab of the Film Development Council of the Philippines.[3]
Originally the film was planned to have three separate parts from the point of view (POV) of its three main characters each with a specific tone; Torres story would be a "cheesy" Philippine mainstream romantic-comedy; Balmaceda's is a social realist drama; and Landridos would be like a heist film. The final film featured a linear plot with the characters' POV "interspersed".[2]
Theme
Marupok AF has transgender issues and catfishing as its central theme. Transphobia was also portrayed in the film; with juxtaposed scenes referencing President Rodrigo Duterte's pardon of American Marine personnel Scott Pemberton who was convicted of killing transgender woman Jennifer Laude and scenes showing Janzen's experience in using the women's restroom present in the film.[1]
The film was based on the real life account of Cebu-based transgender woman Jzan Vern Tero. Tero shared her experienced of being catfished through Twitter by of multimedia artist Sam Morales, who went under the alias Bill Iver Reyes.[2]
