Call Her Ganda

5.8? No reviews? Maybe this is what happens if no one gets paid to write about a film, especially if it's as uncomfortable to watch for Americans as this one.

The story of a US marine convicted of murdering transgender woman Jennifer Laude was a turning point in US-Philippines relations, because the conviction was upheld, yet the whole procedure showed how the US yield their power of "legal hold", that is to say their practice of shielding military personnel from legal prosecution overseas. They've done this in Okinawa, where the population constantly protests against the US base because of a shocking regularity of rape. They've done this in Italy when a reckless pilot cut a ski lift's rope, and they've done this in the UK in the Harry Dunn case.

The film isn't so much about Laude but her family seeking justice, and ends with the convicted marine in custody at a US base, although the court ordered him detained in a local prison. It is pointed out that in the United States, it would be unthinkable to release a foreign national convicted of murder into the custody of his homeland, and the deliberation with which the US is doing that here and elsewhere shows their colonial attitude towards military allies. It is also explained that the defendant used a "gay panic" defense which would meanwhile also be unacceptable in the US.

Things are in limbo at the end but there's hope the convict will eventually serve his sentence; Laude's mother shows proof of a bribe attempt, in which she would have dropped all charges in exchange for $90k. I'm writing this review because president Duterte has recently pardoned the convict, which he promised not to do (also in the film), and he has since returned to the US.