After weeks of uncertainty, Rodina Singh’s Dreamboi will finally make its way to the big screen. The trans body horror film, which had been rated X twice by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), received an R-18 rating on Tuesday, clearing it for public screening in time for its CineSilip Film Festival premiere.

The approval marks the end of a tense back-and-forth between Singh and the ratings board. Just a day earlier, the filmmaker had expressed devastation upon learning that Dreamboi was the only CineSilip entry not approved for exhibition.

“We applied for a re-rating today, and all entries are R-18 except Dreamboi,” Singh said during an X Space on October 20, before the MTRCB’s latest decision came out.

In its earlier rulings, the MTRCB stated that Dreamboi contained “prolonged sexually explicit scenes” that made it “inappropriate for public viewing,” despite acknowledging the film’s “important representation and commentary.”

Singh, however, stood by her vision. “Dreamboi is not pornography; it is a story about being seen, about the pain and beauty of longing when the world tells you you’re not allowed to want,” she said in an October 17 statement.

The film follows Diwa, a trans woman who becomes obsessed with audio porn after eavesdropping on a stranger having sex. Her fascination deepens when she discovers that the man she’s been listening to is the same person behind the voice of her favorite anonymous audio porn actor. The film stars EJ Jallorina as Diwa, alongside Jenn Rosa and Tony Labrusca, who plays the titular Dreamboi.

Jallorina had been outspoken about her frustration following the second X rating. In another post, she suggested that if Diwa were written as a cisgender male, the film might have been approved sooner.

Singh previously shared that Dreamboi was made on a ₱2 million budget with the help of friends and collaborators who believed in the story. Despite the hurdles, she maintained that visibility for trans narratives remains vital.

“We believe that visibility is not obscenity, that desire is not a sin, and that stories like ours belong in the cinema,” she said. “We hope you stand with us and help us keep Dreamboi alive.”

The inaugural CineSilip Film Festival will showcase seven bold and daring films that champion fearless storytelling. Screenings will run from October 22 to 28 in select Ayala Malls cinemas.