Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Macho Dancer

Play trailer Poster for Macho Dancer 1988 2h 14m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 6 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
A former American soldier becomes an exotic dancer and male prostitute in Manila.

Critics Reviews

View More
Lé Baltar IndieWire Jul 10
Brocka insists on escapist fantasies in a world that otherwise offers no escape, which... allows this kind of gritty sensuality to persist in his ever-enduring, luminous cinema. "Macho Dancer" is a masterstroke of Lino Brocka’s most sordid predilections. Go to Full Review
Richard Brody The New Yorker 01/13/2020
Brocka builds scenes with incisive clarity, unfolding the intrepid maneuvers that make the difference between survival and disaster; the inevitable recourse to violence is tinged with a revolutionary defiance. Go to Full Review
Steve Erickson Gay City News Jul 11
At worst, its indictment of their desires has its cake while eating it too, denouncing objectification while the camera lingers endlessly over nude bodies. But in the end, it’s interested in the prospects for rebellion. Go to Full Review
Gay Community News Staff Gay Community News (Boston) 09/09/2022
I’d say you should definitely see this film, because it casts an illuminating light on sexuality and imperialism. Go to Full Review
Peter Bowen OutWeek 05/19/2020
Such economic realities are what produce the film's most profound and enlightening contradictions. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 06/19/2005
3/5
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Robert A @RT76463924 Jul 15 I saw a digitally restored version of this at AFS Cinema in July, 2026. I think some of the reviewers saw bad cuts or different versions of the film. This is an amazing movie! It invites you into a world most of us have never seen and it does so in a sensitive and moving way. It manages to be sensual and erotic while portraying people who are exploited in a way that does not exploit them. This is no small feat. In the end, you realize just how emotionally invested you have become in these young Filipino men and women who turn to sex work to survive. This film is a work of art, unforgettable. Whoever discovered and restored it found a treasure. See more 08/17/2011 It's an amazing movie but horrendous DVD. I understand it had to be re-edited with a surviving print but couldn't Strand Releasing have made a better remaster? Anyhoo, it has amazing dance scenes that are to die for! The cast is pure magic and the chemistry really shows! Good job on the director, cast and script. But BOO on the company that "remastered" this! See more 07/13/2010 i think i may have found my new "call"ing. See more 04/02/2010 Introduced me to the Filipino dirty dancing world and the story was good with sad overtones. But the dancing is pretty cool if you are interested. See more 09/22/2009 erotic but artistically made See more Read all reviews
Macho Dancer

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Movie Info

Synopsis A former American soldier becomes an exotic dancer and male prostitute in Manila.
Director
Lino Brocka
Screenwriter
Amado Lacuesta, Ricardo Lee
Distributor
Strand Releasing
Production Co
Viva Films
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 9, 1988, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Jul 10, 2026
Release Date (DVD)
Oct 16, 2001
Runtime
2h 14m