Some Nights I Feel Like Walking

The story unfolds across a dense urban core in Metro Manila and a distant rural town, Painawa, reflecting a sharp urban-rural divide. The city scenes show street hustlers and bustling venues like an erotic cinema and malls, while the journey moves toward a hometown sensibility. The film uses these settings to contrast survival in the city with the search for belonging and memory in the countryside.

🧭 Survival

A tight-knit group of friends navigates poverty and exploitation by hustling and scheming to pay rent and stay together. The film centers on practical improvisation, loyalty, and solidarity in the face of danger and uncertainty. Their plans shift as death, violence, and moral choices test their bond.

💀 Mortality

Miguelito's death acts as a catalyst that forces the friends to confront the fragility of life and who gets to decide how a body is treated. The group wrestles with the meaning of a dying wish and the burdens of carrying someone home. The burning question of where a loved one finally belongs drives the narrative toward a symbolic funeral rite.

🏡 Home & Belonging

The journey from Manila to Painawa mirrors a search for origin and acceptance beyond the street-life circle. Family ties—whether blood or chosen—are tested when Miguelito's brother refuses him a proper funeral. The road trip and festival finale become a ceremony of redefining home and community.

🏳️‍🌈 Identity & Desire

The film probes sexuality, performance, and consent within a precarious economy of sex work. Uno's affectionate bond with Zion and their moments in drag spaces highlight love and self-ownership under pressure. Desire is shown as complicated, resilient, and essential to personal dignity.