Review of IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT: Maze of Morality

January 31, 2026

One night, a man with a prosthetic leg (Ebrahim Azizi) stopped by an auto repair shop to have his car checked. A mechanic named Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) heard the clicking sound of his prosthetic leg and believed that this man was the same guy who previously tortured him in an Iranian prison. The next morning, Vahid abducted this man and took him to the desert to be buried alive. However, the man denied that he was the notorious interrogator known as Eghbal. Vahid decided to bring him back to town to confirm his identity. 

Book shop owner Salar (Georges Hashemzadeh) declined to verify, and referred photographer Shiva (Mariam Afshari), who thought he was Eghbal by his smell. She was then taking prenuptial photos of couple Ali (Majid Panahi) and Goli (Hadis Pakbaten). Goli revealed that she had also been Eghbal's victim, but was likewise unsure. Shiva's ex Hamid (Mohammad Ali Elyasmehr) felt sure about this was Eghbal after touching the man's leg, and wanted to kill him at once. However, the others wanted a confession and apology from him first. 

This film was written and directed by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who reportedly made this film without permission from the Iranian government. Panahi's other open act of defiance to authority was the inclusion of two female characters who were not wearing the hijab, which is compulsory for women in Iran. Despite these controversies, this film competed for and actually won the Palme D'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. 

This film is a shoo-in to be nominated in the race for Best International Film Oscar, as the submission of France. There is also very loud buzz that this may also make it to the final 10 of the nominations list for the Best Picture Oscar. In the recently-announced  Golden Globe nominations, it is vying for Best Picture Drama, Director, Screenplay as well as Foreign Language film (The languages used in the film were Persian and Azebaijani.)

The first part was not clear outright. Why was Vahid very wary of this customer, and why did he stalk him all the way to his house? As more people were involved in Vahid's darkly humorous road trip did we learn about Vahid's true personality and realize that we will need to stick it out to the very end to know the answer to the mystery of prosthetic guy's true identity. Panahi's enigmatic ending involved a very subtle sound effect to create tension. Listen!

The title was mentioned twice in the opening sequence, where prosthetic guy was driving home with his pregnant wife and young daughter. Their car hit a stray dog on the road and killed it. The wife calmed their daughter down by saying that this was just an accident. In the end, you would think back about this innocuous opening and try to connect this as a metaphor for the events that happened in the film. Was anything really just a simple accident? 7/10

Review of SEND HELP: Marooned Madness

January 29, 2026

Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) may be unpopular among her co-workers, but she was the most efficient employee at the consulting firm of the Preston family. The old boss was about to promote her to vice president, but he passed away before he could announce it. The new CEO, the late boss's frat boy son Bradley (Dylan O'Brien), immediately got turned off by Linda's lousy looks and penchant for tuna fish, and promoted someone else as VP.

Bradley ordered Linda to join his team flying to Bangkok to close a merger deal. During the flight, someone shared a video of Linda auditioning to join her favorite TV reality show "Survivor," and all the boys a good laugh at her expense. Suddenly, their private plane experienced engine trouble and crashed into the ocean. In the morning, Linda found herself on the beach of a deserted island. An injured Bradley who the only other survivor.

The career of Rachel McAdams blew up bigtime in 2004 when she starred in two major box office hits that year -- "Mean Girls" and "The Notebook." Since then, she had been in a steady stream of projects, including a role in "Spotlight" (2015) which earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Oscars. Dylan O'Brien broke through in 2014 playing the lead in "the Maze Runner." HIs highest profile role since then was in "Love and Monsters" (2020). 

McAdams was in full black comedy mode as mousy Linda gradually and gleefully asserted her dominance over her spoiled sexist boss. As Linda, she totally deglamorized herself, furthest from her iconic Regina George character. Her biggest stunt highlight here was that intense hunting scene with a ferocious wild boar, where she went all caveman in wild physical abandon and brutality that I daresay no one would expect from her. 

O'Brien also knew his assignment as Brandon very well. At first, he was positively irritating as that entitled nepo-baby conveniently slipping into his late father's CEO position from out of nowhere. Predictably, he would still expect Linda to treat him as her boss even when they were already marooned on the island. Eventually, O'Brien will effectively keep audiences guessing whether he is really warming up or even falling in love with Linda or not.  

This story about the conflicts between individuals of different economic status stranded on a desert island have been done before, like "Swept Away" (Lina Wertmuller, 1974), "Triangle of Sadness" (Ruben Östlund, 2022) and even "Temptation Island (Joey Gosiengfiao, 1980). Director Sam Raimi injected this trope his signature energetic style for psychological horror and black comedy to come up with another entertaining and thought-provoking thriller. 7/10 

Review of SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Fatherly Friction

January 29, 2026

When their mother passed away, Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) were reunited with their estranged father, the esteemed filmmaker Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård).  Gustav wrote a script about the resistance activities and death of his mother, and wanted Nora, a stage actress, to play the lead role.  When Nora declined because of their past issues, Gustav offered the role to American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning).

"Sentimental Value," winner of the Grand Prix at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, is a Norwegian film directed and co-written by Joachim Trier. This new film reunited Trier with his co-writer Eskil Vogt and lead actress Renate Reinsave from his acclaimed film "The Worst Person in the World" (MY REVIEW).  "Worst" also competed for the Palme D'Or at Cannes in 2021, where Reinsve won the Best Actress award. 

In "Sentimental," Reinsve played a stage actress with a severe stage fright. Her most intense scene here was that opening sequence of her Nora struggling to get into the proper frame of mind to mount the stage was very tense as the clock was ticking past curtain time.  Even if her acting style would be subtler that this for the rest of the film, Reinsve is right in the thick of Best Actress race at the Oscars this year for her performance here. 

There were two other actresses who complete the lead ensemble, and they both also make a big impression on the audience even if they displayed considerable restraint in their portrayals. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas's Agnes was the peacemaker who treated her father with more kindness than abrasive Nora. I was impressed with Elle Fanning in that scene where her Rachel bared her insecurities to Nora with so much sincerity, sensitivity and humility. 

This awards season, Stellan Skarsgard is one of the leading nominees for Best Supporting Actor. This is another case of lead actors being fielded for Oscar consideration in the supporting category for a better chance to be nominated and win. As the egotistical artist and father, Gustav was the source of the film's tension and Skarsgard truly commanded the screen whenever he was on with his imposing presence. 8/10

Mini-Reviews of 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE and PRIMATE: Gore Galore

January 25, 2026

28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE

Directed by Nia DaCosta

Written by Alex Garland

Following the events of the last film, young Spike (Alfie Williams) was rescued by a gang led by "Sir Lord" Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell), who called himself the son of Satan himself. He called his minions his "Fingers," replacing their names with various forms of his name Jimmy, going around terrorizing people by tying them up and skinning them alive. A female Finger called Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman) has become protective of Spike.  

Meanwhile, back at his Bone Temple, Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) has started to interact with the Infected Alpha whom he called Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) who seemed to be gaining back his sanity as an effect of the multiple doses Kelson had shot into him from darts of his blowgun. When Jimmy Crystal heard that there was this mysterious man with red skin that seemed to have been able to tame an Alpha, he thought Kelson could be his lord Satan.

In this fourth installment in the 28th Day Later film series, there are already more human characters in this film than Infected (zombies). In fact, the diabolically psychotic Lord Jimmy Crystal and his Fingers were more chilling than the Infected. Their scenes of skinning their regular human victims alive were far more disgusting than any of the Infected kills. The interesting musical soundtrack ranged from Iron Maiden to Duran Duran. Fiennes and O'Connell give totally committed performances of opposite extremes. 8/10 

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PRIMATE

Directed by Johannes Roberts

Written by Johannes Roberts and Ernest Riera

After spending several years away in the US mainland, Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) returned to Hawaii to visit her family home with her friend Kate (Victoria Wyant). Kate had invited another girl Hannah (Jessica Alexander), who rubbed Lucy off the wrong way. When Kate found out that Lucy's father will be not be home, she volunteered herself, Hannah and their male friend Nick (Benjamin Cheng), to stay over at Lucy's place.

Lucy's deaf father Adam Pinborough (Troy Kotsur) is a successful author who was going away over the weekend for a book signing of his latest book. Lucy also had a kid sister Erin (Gia Hunter) with whom she had a strained relationship because of the years apart. The family had a genius pet chimpanzee named Ben (motion capture by actor Miguel Torres Umba). However, Ben was not going to be docile himself that particular weekend. 

From the start, it was evident that rabies would cause Ben's uncharacteristically deadly behavior. Like typical horror formula, the victims were taken out one by one, until they figure out how to neutralize the killer. From the opening, we already know that the kills will be graphically violent, from a face getting ripped off to a jawbone being pulled out from its sockets. The atmosphere was just like any other serial killer film where the victims are trapped in one house. Only difference here, the killer was a rabid chimp, not a man. 7/10

Review of RENTAL FAMILY: Hearts for Hire

January 22, 2026

Phillip (Brendan Fraser) was an American actor who now lived in Japan. He had a successful toothpaste commercial there, but unfortunately since then, the acting jobs have been few. One day, Phillip was recruited by a company called Rental Family, who provided actors who act as surrogates for people in need of family or friends. After resisting at first, Phillip agreed to become their "token white guy" for customers with that particular unusual requirement. 

His first job was to act as the groom for a lesbian (Misato Morita) for a wedding ceremony that her parents dreamed of. He was then hired by a single mother (Shino Shinozaki) to act as the father of a biracial girl Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman) to fulfill an application requirement for an exclusive school. He was then hired by a daughter (Sei Matobu) to act as a reporter interested to interview her father, retired film director Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto). 

Hikaru is the professional name of the female Japanese-American filmmaker who co-wrote (with Stephen Blahut) and directed this dramatic film, only her second feature film as director. Prior to this, her last high-profile job was directing three episodes of the acclaimed Netflix series "Beef" (2023). Hikaru's storytelling style was gentle and full of heart, enhanced by beautiful cinematography of Japanese landscapes by Takurô Ishizaka as backdrop.

The topic is very uniquely Japanese. The idea of hiring people to pretend to be temporary family or friend will likely not fly in any other culture in the world, but, if we were to believe this movie, perfectly acceptable for the Japanese, as long as there is a higher purpose to achieve. As a foreigner, Phillip did not immediately accept the job, and even wanted to back out of his first one at the last minute. However, he eventually understood and became good at it.

The agency owner Shinji (Takehiro Hira) and his fellow employee Aiko (Mari Yamamoto) have fully and passionately embraced the noble aims of their company, and do not find anything wrong about living these elaborate lies. However, they would eventually also learn from Phillip's experiences as he tended to develop genuine empathy with his clients. However, cutting ties and apologies are very difficult to do after each job is done.   

The inherent kindness in Brendan Fraser's face makes his Phillip easy to like and relate to. He had genuine chemistry with both Gorman and Emoto, so that his scenes with them, particularly the goodbyes, are quite heartrending. Thankfully, director Hikaru never went into any hysterical melodrama in these scenes replete with Japanese aesthetics and restraint all the way through. Despite the underlying deception depicted, warmth still radiates through. 8/10

 

Netflix: Review of THE RIP: Pervasive Paranoia

January 19, 2026

In police parlance, a "rip" is a raid on a criminal hideout where the cops recover stolen goods, including drugs and cash.  This new star-studded Netflix film written and directed by Joe Carnahan tells about a grand rip, where the cops raid a house where criminals have stashed upwards of $20 million in cash. The enormity of the loot raised countless red flags and doubts among the members of the Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT) that did the raid. 

Lt. Dane Dumars (Matt Damon) was promoted to lead the TNT of the Miami Police when former leader Capt. Jackie Velez was murdered. Based on a tip, Dumars led his team -- Sgt. JD Byrne (Ben Affleck), Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor), and Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Moreno) -- to raid a certain house where a major stash of cash was hidden. A girl named Desi (Sasha Calle) who lived there denied knowing anything.  

The main draw of this film was admittedly its two lead actors -- Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. We all know they were best friends since childhood in real life, who started their film careers together as extras in "Field of Dreams" (1989). By 1997, they both won Oscars for a screenplay they wrote together -- "Good Will Hunting," and the rest, as they say, was history. Whether as leads or cameos, "The Rip" is now the 13th film they were on screen together.  

The supporting cast here also had Oscar pedigrees. Steven Yeun had been nominated as Best Actor in "MInari" (2020). Catalina Sandino Moreno had been nominated as Best Actress in "Maria Full of Grace" (2004). Teyana Taylor is just waiting for her nomination (and likely win) this year for "Another Battle After Another" (2025). Their ensemble work as cops grappling with moral issues in the face of the blinding lure of millions in cash was topnotch. 

It was riveting to watch Damon and Affleck play flawed characters who lose trust in each other while doing a job where trust was essential. They clearly trusted each other as actors as their strong chemistry held the twisty cross and double-cross story together. Despite some questionable plot points, Carnahan's script and direction effectively steeped the cops' team dynamics in pervasive paranoia that also kept viewers hanging on to the very end. 7/10

Review of ANACONDA (2025): A Silly Serpentine Spoof

January 9, 2026

Doug (Jack Black), Griff (Paul Rudd), Kenny (Steve Zahn), and Claire (Thandiwe Newton) had been close friends since their childhood making amateur films. When they got together at Doug's latest birthday, Griff told them that he owned the film rights to the 1997 action-horror film "Anaconda". As they were all unhappy with their jobs now, they impulsively decided to all go to the Amazon to film a low-budget indie version of their all-time favorite movie.

The gang planned out their script and their shoot carefully, even hiring a snake handler named Santiago (Selton Mello) who had a tame pet anaconda which was perfect for their purposes. They were able to rent a great-looking houseboat to travel on the Amazon River. This was steered by a girl named Ana (Daniela Melchior), whose impressive skills in shooting firearms made Doug include her in their film, much to Griff's annoyance. 

This new "Anaconda" film, co-written and directed by Tom Gormican, is a spoof (not a sequel) of Luis Llosa's "Anaconda" (1997)  This is the third film written and directed by Gormican after "That Awkward Moment" (2014) with Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan, and "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" (2022) with Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal. All his three films explore the theme of male friendships tested under stressful situations. 

The humor of this movie was of the silly, slapstick style, mostly care of Black and Zahn. Black's most hilarious scene for me was that crazy macabre one where a boar was strapped on to Doug's back while a squirrel was stuffed into his mouth. Zahn's zaniest scene was that one when Doug's leg was paralyzed by a bite of a poisonous spider, and Kenny had to pee on the wound as an antidote. Kenny's anxieties made this scene way funnier than expected.

Black, Rudd, Zahn and Newton all had a relaxed chemistry between them, making their onscreen friendship fun to watch. The CGI giant snakes did not really look very realistic, but nevertheless what they did to Santiago's rather cute pet anaconda was not funny at all. Admittedly, the comedy was hit and miss, the horror was not really scary, and the action stuff about gold smugglers was a dud. However, the cameos of 1997 actors were a big hit. 6/10

Review of THE HOUSEMAID: The Price of Privilege

January 8, 2025

Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney) was dead broke and had just been living in her car for some time. One day, she was unexpectedly hired by Mrs. Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried) to be the live-in maid for their elegant  Long Island mansion. When she moved in and was warmly welcomed by Nina and her kind husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), Millie thought her days of miserable existence have finally come to an end. Or so she thought.

This convoluted psychological thriller film was directed by Paul Feig from a screenplay written by Rebecca Sonnenshine, adapted from the 2022 novel by Freida McFadden. Feig is known for comedies prominently featuring female characters, like "Bridesmaids" (2011), "The Heat" (2013), or "Ghostbusters" (2016). Despite the ominous plot brewing between its two lead female characters, Feig still managed to inject his new film with a darkly comic tone. 

The first act seemed so straightforward, with three beautiful people sharing one big house, you would logically predict that something sexy and scandalous was afoot. Suddenly, everything turned around one way in the second act, with psychological breakdowns, false accusations. Expository flashbacks to set things straight, but just when you thought you had the story all figured out, the outrageous story twisted yet another way before the end. 

Both Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried played deeply flawed characters, but the actresses played them well enough for audiences to sympathize with them. Sweeney was the obvious underdog, but she was certainly no saint. At first, Seyfried had the more sinister role with all the manipulation and gaslighting Nina was doing. Despite this, she was still able to draw us to her side despite all that, and that is no mean feat.  

The most interesting character in the whole story was actually the guy caught in between the two squabbling ladies -- Andrew. From a casual boy-next-door type photographer in his last film "Drop" (2025), Sklenar had transformed himself this time into a privileged millionaire Casanova with a killer smile and magnetic charisma that was absolutely irresistible to all women, including his mother Evelyn (Elizabeth Perkins). 7/10

My Yearend Roundup: The BEST FOREIGN FILMS of 2025 That I Have Seen

December 25, 2025

Here are the best foreign films I had seen and written about in the year 2025. Thanks to QCinema for bringing in Oscar hopefuls "Hamnet," "Sirat" and "The Things You Kill." However, too bad I had to miss other gems like "The Voice of Hind Rajab" or "Rental Family." 

Not included in this countdown were the 2024 films only shown locally in 2025, like "A Complete Unknown" or "Flow." Also not included here were outstanding Oscar-primed 2025 films, but have not yet been released in the country, either in cinemas or streaming sites (no VPN), like "Sentimental Value," "It Was Only an Accident," or "The Secret Agent."

Like previous years, I divided my yearend best-of-films list into two: foreign films (both in English and other foreign languages) in this post, and Filipino films in a separate post (LINK). 

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

30. THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS by Matt Shakman (My Full Review)

29. GOOD BOY by Ben Leonberg (My Full Review)

28. THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB by Chris Columbus (My Full Review)

27. ELIO by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina (My Full Review)

26. BRING HER BACK by Danny and Michael Philippou  (My Full Review)

25. THE LONG WALK by Francis Lawrence (My Full Review)

24. BLACK BAG by Stephen Soderbergh (My Full Review)

23. WAKE UP DEAD MAN by Rian Johnson (My Full Review)

22. NO OTHER CHOICE by Park Chan-wook (My Full Review)

21. HOUSE OF DYNAMITE by Kathryn Bigelow  (My Full Review)

20. CAUGHT STEALING by Darren Aronofsky (My Full Review)

19. JAY KELLY by Noah Baumbach (My Full Review)

18. MICKEY 17 by Bong Joon-ho (My Full Review)

17. CELLS AT WORK by  Hideki Takeuchi (My Full Review)

16. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON by Dean DeBlois (My Full Review)

15. F1 by Joseph Kosinski (My Full Review)

14. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FINAL RECKONING by Christopher McQuarrie (My Full Review)

13. BUGONIA by Yorgos Lanthimos (My Full Review)

12. WICKED: FOR GOOD by Jon Chu (My Full Review)

11. ZOOTOPIA 2 by Jared Bush, Byron Howard (My Full Review)

MY TOP TEN ARE:

10. THUNDERBOLTS* by Jake Schrier (My Full Review)

The overall mood was sad and dark, but writers Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo incorporate much wit and humor in the lines to balance things out. This is director Jack Schreier's first MCU project (and third film overall), but he felt like a seasoned veteran the way he handled the delicate subject matter of mental health and integrated this into the action-packed superhero genre.  There were fun energetic CGI-heavy sequences, but the emotional connection with broken characters remain felt and potent. 

9. WEAPONS by Zach Cregger (My Full Review)

Instead of the typical linear style, Cregger told his story from the points of view of different people -- from Justine, Archer, police officer Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), drug junkie James (Austin Abrams), Marcus, and finally Alex. Therefore, we get the finer details of the story served in small installments, allowing the audience to just piece and solve the whole mystery together in our heads, leading up to one ultra-violent, yet very satisfying, climax.

8. TRAIN DREAMS by Chris Bentley (My Full Review)

Joel Edgerton gave a sensitive performance here, as Robert lived up to 80, An Oscar nom is not unlikely. He spoke very little in the film, but his sad weathered face said it all. Director Clint Bentley evoked Terence Mallick here. With his cinematographer Adolfo Veloso, editor Patrick Laramie and narrator Will Patton, he had created a poetic portrait of a man and the difficult life he went through. We are moved. 

7. KPOP DEMON HUNTERS by Maggie Kang (My Full Review)

K-pop is so ubiquitous nowadays, every song in the film is so catchy. Huntr/x had songs like "How It's Done," "Golden" and "What It Sounds Like." They even had a song Rumi did not like called "Takedown," but it wasn't any less poppy. The Saja Boys were winsomeright off the bat with the irresistibly sing-along-able fiest hit, "Soda Pop." Their second song "Your Idol" could  be a metaphor of how the public can easily be brainwashed by their hypnotically powerful music.

6. HAMNET by Chloe Zhao (My Full Review)

The pace of the storytelling may be slow (in true Chloe Zhao style), and things do get quite overwrought at one point, which may make some wonder where the critical acclaim was coming from. It did feel like a typical family melodrama about a housewife dealing with three kids, spousal abandonment and an insidious plague. However, the real magic began in the last 15 minutes at the premiere staging of "Hamlet" (Noah Jupe in the title role). It was here that we feel the true heart of this film and finally get what the buzz was all about.

5. ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER by Paul Thomas Anderson (My Full Review)

Anderson was able to mix character study, social commentary, political satire, family drama, crime action all together in in perfect harmony. The comedic elements were more prominent, while the dramatic elements were decidedly more subtle. After giving us so much chaos in the first two hours, Anderson saved the best sequence in the closing minutes, executing what could be one of the best shot, most heart-stopping car chases that I've seen.

  

4. NE ZHA 2 by Yu Yang (My Full Review)

The most amazing part of this 2-1/2 hour epic was its spectacular animation style. Everything in the first film was given a major glow up -- from the action, to the funny, to the magical. Every character, major or minor or even background extras, were all given meticulous attention to detail in their face, bodies and costumes. The last three winners of the Oscar Best Animated Feature had not been Disney films, looks like this one may follow suit next year. 

3. FRANKENSTEIN by Guillermo del Toro (My Full Review)

Those familiar with Del Toro's work knows his penchant for all things macabre and monstrous. While the whole film dripped with these dark and disturbing elements, the highlight will have to be that sequence of scenes of Victor carving out various body parts from different dead soldiers, then connecting them together to build his 3-D jigsaw puzzle of a Creature. It would take a strong stomach to sit through this fascinating process of anatomical construction. 

2. SUPERMAN by James Gunn  (My Full Review)

Overall, Gunn's vision of Superman was old-fashioned and sentimental, but updated with complex science fiction with innovative technology. How Lois Lane can pilot a new-fangled air craft or how Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) could be an irresistible ladies' man may seem silly, but chalk those up to Gunn's campy sense of comedy. I have high hopes this film could give the struggling DC film universe the boost it needs to reach new heights it deserves.

1. SINNERS by Ryan Coogler (My Full Review)

Writer-director Ryan Coogler certainly took his time in telling his story. The entire first hour was spent on building this world of the Moore twins Smoke and Stack, introducing them and all the characters around them, so that we will care about what happens to them in the second half of the film.  At first, we needed clues to distinguish the twins -- Smoke wore a blue beret, while Stack wore a red fedora. Later, Jordan made sure we could tell which twin was who.

From the very beginning, we already knew that music was going to play an important role in this movie. The narrator tells us how cultures all over the world all believed that music could have supernatural powers. When Sammie told his pastor father that he was going to play blues music, he was warned how this music could bring him towards danger. Blues music is laden with sensual melancholy as derived from Afro-American work songs and spirituals.

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My list for 2024 is posted HERE.

My list for 2023 is posted HERE. 

My list for 2022 is posted HERE. 

My list for 2021 is posted HERE. 

My list for 2020 is posted HERE. 

My list for 2019 is posted HERE. 

My list for 2018 is posted HERE.

My list for 2017 is posted HERE.

My list for 2016 is posted HERE.

My list for 2015 is posted HERE.

My list for 2014 is posted HERE.

My list for 2013 is posted HERE. 

My Yearend Roundup: The BEST FILIPINO FILMS of 2025 That I Have Seen

December 25, 2025

In 2025, there were 189 Filipino films released. 105 were released on the big screen (62 regular releases + 43 film festival releases). The rest were released streaming in online apps. So far, I've seen 77 of them. This is a marked decrease from the 149 I watched in 2024, because since April 2025, I have decided not to watch the output of a certain prolific app anymore. 

Of the film festivals, I able to watch 5/8 of the Cinepanalo films in March. 2/5 of the Sine Maynila films in September, 7/10 of the Cinemalaya films and 1/5 of the Sinesilip films in October. I was not able to watch any Filipino feature film in the offerings of QCinema this year.  So far I had been able to watch 5/8 entries of the Metro Manila Film Festival this December, thanks to their red carpet premieres. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS: 

30. SINAGTALA by Mike E. Sandejas (My Full Review)

29. FLEETING by Catsi Catalan (My Full Review)

28. THE CARETAKERS by Shugo Praico  (My Full Review)

27. IN THY NAME by Rommel Ruiz, Ceasar Soriano (My Full Review)

26. MADAWAG ANG LANDAS PATUNGONG PAG-ASA by Joel Lamangan (My Full Review)

25. REPUBLIKA NG PILOLIPINAS by Renei Dimla (My Full Review)

24. 100 AWIT PARA KAY STELLA by Jason Paul Laxamana (My Full Review)

23. RAGING by Ryan Machado (My Full Review)

22. THE RIDE by Thop Nazareno (My Full Review)

21. OUTSIDE DE FAMILIA by Joven Tan (My Full Review)

20. KONTRABIDA ACADEMY by Chris Martinez (My Full Review)

19. EVERYONE KNOWS EVERY JUAN by Alessandra de Rossi  (My Full Review)

18. TAGKIWILI by Tara Illenberger (My Full Review)

17. CHILD NO. 82  by Tim Rone Villanueva (My Full Review)

16. CALL ME MOTHER by Jun Lana (My Full Review)

15. SONG OF THE FIREFLIES by King Palisoc (My Full Review)

14. UNMARRY by Jeffrey Jeturian  (My Full Review)

13. SALUM by T.M. Malones  (My Full Review)

12. REKONEK by Jade Castro (My Full Review)

11. EX EX LOVERS by JP Habac (My Full Review)

10. SUNSHINE by Antonette Jadaone (My Full Review)

It all boils down to a woman's right to have agency over her own body, not anyone else. And as long as abortion remained illegal, women with unwanted pregnancies have to resort to medically-unsafe ways of getting rid of the fetus, putting their lives in danger. However, no matter how this film ends, abortion will always be a contentious issue that will probably not gain much traction in ultra-conservative, predominantly Catholic Philippine society any time soon. It certainly took chutzpah for these filmmakers to produce a film like this. 

9. MANILA'S FINEST by Raymond Red (My Full Review)

Director Raymond Red took on the story written by Michiko Yamamoto, Moira Lang and Sherad Sanchez, and told it with a realistic period vibe. The pace of storytelling was deliberately slow but engaging. The production design, costume design, and hair and makeup teams were very meticulous with the details.  Piolo Pascual's Magtibay was not a perfect man or policeman, but he had his head squarely in the right place, remaining loyal to his profession and his organization. Enrique Gil played Ojeda with the impulsiveness of youth which led him to trouble later. 

8. JOURNEYMAN by Christian Paolo Lat (My Full Review)

JC Santos gave his 100% in his gritty, sweaty portrayal of Angelo as failed boxer and family man, in a realistically painful physical and emotional performance. His siomai-eating scene at the end (reminiscent of Jaclyn Jose's iconic fishball scene in "Ma Rosa") was absolutely heart-crushing. Santos' Angelo also bared his soul when his long-suffering wife Sunshine broke down and expressed her "what-ifs" at the hospital, and in those conversations with Nay Rosario (Ruby Ruiz), his adopted mother at the fishport.

7. CINEMARTYRS  by Sari Dalena (My Full Review)

The highlight of the whole film was Shirin's shoot in Patikul, Sulu with an all-Tausug cast led by Laila Urao as the bride Karsum. In obedience to Islamic rules, Shirin had to designate the imam's son Medzfar (Bong Cabrera) to bark out her orders. It started smoothly enough, with a reenactment of a Moslem wedding feast that ended in tragedy. As a famous photograph of the resulting carnage was recreated, a terrifying mystical experience engulfed the whole crew. This was a most mesmerizing sequence, especially since this eerie episode of possession really happened in real life. 

6. I'MPERFECT by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo (My Full Review)

This unique film written and directed by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo dealt with Down's Syndrome (DS). Most people think of them as children because of how they look, and treat them as children even when they are of adult age. Bernardo tells us that persons with DS are actually capable of feeling romantic love and all the complicated thoughts, acts and emotions that come along with it. This is very first Filipino film with actual persons with DS as lead actors. Go and Amaba shone brightly, holding their own beside their veteran co-actors in challenging bittersweet scenes. 

5. BAR BOYS: AFTER SCHOOL by Kip Oebanda (My Full Review)

79 year-old Ms. Odette Khan, who had won multiple Best Supporting Awards for the first film, is billed as lead this time. All her scenes were particularly well-written, with several quotable quotes about life and the law. Her words about lawyers being "invisible by design" and how integrity was "the courage to be disliked" stuck to me.  Her iconic Justice Hernandez may have mellowed down with her age and health, but Ms. Khan's performance still hits very hard. The best scenes of each actor in the cast were those they shared with her. Ms. Khan knew that this is the role she is going to be best remembered for, and she gave it her all.

4. ONE HIT WONDER by Marla Ancheta  (My Full Review)

This film was so easy to like and enjoy because of the charismatic lead actors, Khalil Ramos and Sue Ramirez. They are both bona fide talented singers, so their characters felt real and relatable.  Their romantic chemistry was also off the charts, so we root for their relationship all the way, even as tough decisions had to be made. That sidewalk scene ran the gamut of painful conflicting emotions, but both stars, especially Ramos, played it with great restraint. 

3. ONLY WE KNOW by Irene Emma Villamor  (My Full Review)

Villamor kept the relationship between Betty and Ryan very subtle. We were kept guessing whether there was indeed a romance brewing between them or not. We all felt like Cora when she first saw Betty and Ryan together -- intrigued by the mystery, yet there was an breathtaking thrill about them. It was sheer directorial skill how Villaflor kept this uncertainty going for the whole final act, and still keep us guessing all the way up to the ending.

2. HABANG NILALAMON NG HALIMAW ANG KASAYSAYAN by Dustin Celestino  (My Full Review)

Like his previous "Duyan ng Magiting," the true star is Celestino's screenplay. The story was also divided into chapters, this one had eight, each named for a memorable line within that chapter. Each chapter contained astutely-written dialog about political disinformation and injustice that challenge our own convictions. Aside from the titular Hydra, four other characters of Greek myth -- Sisyphus, Cassandra, Pandora and Tantalus -- were utilized as universal metaphors.

1. QUEZON  by Jerrold Tarog (My Full Review)

Jericho Rosales was an inspired choice to play the charismatic president, who spoke, argued and cursed with oratorical flair and passion. This film was certainly not romanticized nor haigographic.  Rosales played him as domineering, devious, dishonest to achieve his noble goal of independence. In so doing, he inadvertently promoted a toxic political culture that still pervades even almost century hence. 

With this final installment, Tarog continues the high technical, production and entertainment value, signature of the whole trilogy. Cinematography, production design, hair and make-up, and musical scoring were all top-notch.  As before, there were lots to learn about the less well-known details about the country's political scene during that time.

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My List of Best Filipino Films of 2024 is posted HERE.

My List of Best Filipino Films of 2023 is posted HERE. 

My List for Best Filipino Films of 2022 is posted HERE.

My List for Best Filipino Films of 2021 is posted HERE.

My List for Best Filipino Films of 2020 is posted HERE.

My List for Best Filipino Films of 2019 is posted HERE.

My List for Best Filipino Films of 2018 is posted HERE.

My List for Best Filipino Films of 2017 is posted HERE.

My List for Best Filipino Films of 2016 is posted HERE.

My List for Best Filipino Films of 2015 is posted HERE.

My List for Best Filipino Films of 2014 is posted HERE.

MMFF 2025: Review of CALL ME MOTHER: The Meaning of Motherhood

December 25, 2025

Twinkle de Guzman (Vice Ganda) was a topnotch pageant coach. When his mother suddenly passed away, she left him with an infant baby boy whom she just informally adopted. Twinkle's career floundered as he raised the boy Angelo (Lucas Andalio) to be a smart student and a talented artist. One day, Twinkle was offered an opportunity to work in Hong Kong Disneyland. He can bring Angelo, but adoption papers need to be legalized. 

Popular model Mara de Jesus (Nadine Lustre) just announced on TV that she was engaged to be married to Anton (River Joseph), a son of wealthy parents (Jennifer Sevilla and Robert Ortega). However, their wedding will still be held next year because Mara wanted to first win an elusive beauty title Ms. Uniworld, which she lost 10 years ago because she fainted during the final question (about which she would prioritize between her child or her crown). 

This is the second film collaboration of star Vice Ganda and writer-director Jun Lana after last year's "... And the Breadwinner Is," which was also an entry in the MMFF last year. Vice was nominated for Best Actor, but won a Special Jury Prize given "To a performer who has broken the ground and gone out of the familiar comfort zone to prove his growth as an artist and tackle issues relevant to the contemporary society." He does so again this year.

The story had already been told in Filipino films at least two times before. In "Ang Tatay Kong Nanay" (1978, Lino Brocka), Dolphy played a gay beautician who raised the child abandoned by his boyfriend's girlfriend (Marissa Delgado) who later wanted the child back. In "Maalaala Mo Kaya: The Movie" (1994, Olivia Lamasan), Aiko Melendez played a UP student who raised the child abandoned by her cousin (Chin-Chin Gutierrez) who later wanted the child back. 

This new film has its own innovations to distinguish it from its predecessors. Unlike the first two, it did not see the need to identify Angelo's father. It also had the cleanest (most idealistic?) final resolution of the three. The documents for legal adoption were given a bigger emphasis here, with social worker Mutya Isidro (Chanda Romero) guiding Twinkle along. We see that a signature of consent from the real mother was required to get the process to proceed. We see that a child at 10 years old is expected to write a statement in his own hand as to which parent he wanted to go with.  

Of all three films, it was this current version of the story that gave the child a prolonged harrowing scene of barangay officials trying to violently wrest him away from Twinkle's possession when he refused to give Angelo up. While this was a major acting moment for both Vice and Andalio, I felt it went way off-the-rails over-the-top for what's supposed to be a family film, especially when it ended up with Twinkle brandishing a kitchen knife. 

Real-life beauty queens like Chelsea Manalo and Carlene Aguilar cameoed at the very start talking about Twinkle's strict methods to ensure victory. There were scenes where Twinkle challenged Mara to strut the runway while balancing anything from an aquarium to a steaming pan of chop suey. While Dolphy's Coring had his gang of gay friends, Vice's Twinkle had transwomen as her foster family -- Mama M (John Lapus) and younger brother Vince (Esnyr Ranollo). Twinkle's former rival Ms. J (Iyah Mina) is now Mara's manager and bodyguard. 

Nadine Lustre was very good with her dramatic confrontations, but her Mara was not made too sympathetic for us to like her enough. Her answer to the Ms. Uniworld pageant's Q&A portion was quite a twist, albeit too improbable and melodramatic. A group of PBB alumni (Shuvee Entrata, Brent Manalo, Mika Salamanca, Klarisse de Guzman) played minor roles as young people in Twinkle's house. They're mostly there to make more noise in the background to fulfill the dictum that "louder is funnier" in Pinoy comedy. 

The crazy comedy gags expected of Vice were only inserted as fantasy sequences showing what he really wanted to do in his head but cannot. This story gave Vice plenty of opportunity to stretch his dramatic acting skills -- a perfect vehicle for him to prove that his citations last year was no fluke. Lucas Andalio (a nephew of Loisa Andalio) makes an impressive impression as the confused child caught in between two mothers, as Nino Muhlach did before. The chemistry between Vice and Andalio make them the team we want to root for. 7/10.