Running Time: 87 Minutes
Starring: Phi Palmos, Adrienne Vergara, Io Balanon, Sig Pecho, Joelle Yuvienco
First appearing back in 2002, Zsazsa Zaturnnah is a comic-book hero created by Filipino illustrator and graphic designer Carlo Vergara. While the character was a homage to Darna, the classic Filipino superhero created by Mars Ravelo, Zaturnah is a character of its own who grapples with issues encountered by the queer community. The cult figure and queer icon already received a 2006 feature adaptation, along with a stage musical. Through this animated work that is packed with style and substance, this latest adaptation allows the character to be introduced to a new audience.
Set in a small village within the Philippines, Ada is a shy, gay hairdresser who runs a salon. A history of heartbreak and bigotry has left him resigned to the single life, aided by his comic-book loving assistant Didi, while crushing on handsome shopkeeper Dodong. Ada soon discovers he has more issues than rising prices, as a pink meteorite punches a hole through his roof one night. At Didi's insistence, the hairdresser consumes the space rock and utters the mystical word inscribed on it - Zaturnnah! This allows him to transform into a superhero with incredible strength, speed, and resilience, all within an Olympian woman's body. As his powerful alter-ego called Zsazsa Zaturnnah, he faces troubling obstacles involving giant mutant animals, invading Amazonistas from space, and learning to love again.
What writer Carlo Vergara and director Avid Liongoren have crafted is a tale of learning to love yourself, while framing it through the lens of a gay Shazam! When viewers first meet Ada, the longing in his heart is silenced by a reluctance to hope. This is due to a history of receiving abuse, with the sources of his trauma involving physical violence from a father who rejected him, and a past boyfriend who owed money. Fears of being hurt again leave him unwilling to try, but that does not stop him from helping others without asking for anything in return. It's a genuinely emotional element which shows viewers Ada's selflessness before he gained powers, leaving the intergalactic change to amplify his best traits as he becomes a champion for the downtrodden, while also reviving the confidence he thought was lost.
Constantly by the protagonists side is Didi, the witty assistant who never gives up on Ada by constantly pushing him to live life to the fullest, and using his newfound powers to help pay the salon's mounting bills. There is also Dodong, the well-meaning himbo love interest who catches Ada's eye, and not just because of his prominent nipples. It is a grouping that is fun to watch, as this support system helps Ada to reclaim the joys that life brings, as opposed to wallowing in the darkness.
A fascinating inverse to this are the antagonistic Amazonistas, victims of male abuse who retaliated by becoming abusers themselves. As the saying goes, "hurt people hurt people", as they respond to their own pain and trauma by continuing the cycle of abuse. While this material is treated with the necessary seriousness, it also does not clash with the fun tone that the film delivers. A knowing sense of humour and the fun fight scenes are brought alive with stylistic visuals, making for an eye-pleasing mixture whose visual references range between Akira, a side-scrolling video game, and even Sesame Street. It makes for a triumphant animated work with heart, as Zsazsa Zaturnnah captures how it is the person you are inside that matters, not how others see you on the outside.
Zsazsa Zaturnnah made its North American Premiere at Fantasia Festival 2026
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