Netflix: Review of SANA SINABI MO: A Sensitive Secret

December 11, 2025

Pastor Joseph "Otep" Mariano (Bodjie Pascua) just passed away from cancer. His son Joseph "Seph" (Juan Karlos) and wife (Lotlot De Leon) were hosting a service at church, attended by their Head Pastor Leopoldo Marquez (Nonie Buencamino) of the Church of the Holy Lord. In the middle of Joseph's eulogy, a foul-mouthed woman named Cecil (Rosanna Roces) went up to his coffin and started scandalously exposing the pastor's sordid past as a gay man. 

Director and co-writer Shaira Advincula alternated the present events to flashbacks of Otep's youth. During the 1970s, young Otep (JC Santos) and young Cecil (Yesh Burce) went out to discos at night, at the risk of being caught by policemen during the curfew. At that time, Otep also had a penpal from Cordoba, Spain, Rafael "Rum" Pena (Jaime Garcia), who was a gardener in an olive garden there, with whom he exchanged passionate love letters. 

This film was a not-so-subtle shade against organized Christian religion and their aversion against homosexuals (and I suppose, all LGBTQIA +). In this ultra-conservative cultish Church of the Holy Lord, no matter how good a person is, his name is automatically besmirched, and he is shunned socially once he is found to be gay. Lest you think this his film is set in the past, no. This is present day, mind you -- Otep only passed away in 2024. 

Somehow complicating things was a subplot about the powerful Pastor Leo Marquez and his own iniquities among the young girls in his flock, ugly wig notwithstanding. This side story did not even involve Otep nor Joseph directly, so it could have been completely dropped without consequence. I am guessing this was only a direct stab/reference to a recent news about a locally-based cultish religious sect and its notorious founder/leader. 

The penpal reference should connect with the Boomer or Gen X segment of the audience who could wax nostalgic about their own penpals from other countries, as well as their hope to actually meet their penpals in person.  This Cordoba part would have been good, if not only for the awkward writing of the scenes when Seph first spoke to Rum. All those "sir, sir, sir" and "are you gay?" were irritating, any person would have also shut the door on his face. 

While the script had some good things going for it, like the Medenilla magnifica seeds, there were also a number of problematic parts. The finding of Otep's old suitcase buried in the garden was such a random coincidence. There was a lot of uncalled-for profanity for a film going for the heartstrings like this, even good-boy Seph cursed. Cecil was not only sexually vulgar, it was not clear why she scandalized her old friend in the first place.  4/10

Review of ETERNITY: A Difficult Dilemma

December 10, 2025

After he died, Larry Cutler (Miles Teller) found himself in a train station-like place called the "Junction." With the help of his Afterlife Coordinator named Anna (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), Larry had to decide where he wanted to spend his eternity. A few days later, Larry's wife of 65 years, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), also passed away, and the two were reunited at the Junction, expecting to spend the rest of their afterlife together. 

To her surprise, her first husband Luke (Callum Turner), who died 67 years ago in the Korean War and waited for her ever since, also showed up to claim her as well. Now Joan was faced with a very difficult decision to make. Will she spend her eternity with her first love and husband, whom she barely spent any life with? Or will it be with a man she spent 65 long years filled with both happy and problematic memories?

Director and co-writer David Freyne wisely tackled this rather heavy topic with a light rom-com touch. His version of the afterlife is clearly not based on any religious dogma, hence it was open to his own original ideas with regards to its rules (once a soul chose his eternity, there is no turning back or else Eternity Cops will throw him into the Void), or features (for the price of a ticket, you can take a stroll into an "Archives" of your cherished moments in life). 

His three main actors knew their assignments well, and kept their performances also breezy for the most part, while knowing when to go a bit serious as the story required. Both Teller and Turner played their roles with their own brands of earnest charm, to make Joan's (and the audience's) dilemma that much more difficult who to choose. The suspense of the close contest will make you want to stay for Joan's final decision.

The premise of the film was actually very simple, but Joan's big dilemma will make audiences also reflect about their own romantic relationships in life. At the start, a marriage between two young people in its first year is quite idealistic as it basked in a honeymoon glow. In contrast, a marriage of over 50 years is a dizzying roller-coaster ride as it went through many wringers along the way.  You, which partner would be your choice be for your eternity? 7/10

Netflix: Review of JAY KELLY: Consequences of Career Choices

December 8, 2025

Movie star Jay Kelly (George Clooney) wanted to spend time with his daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards) before she leaves for college. However, she had booked already booked a tour in Europe with her friends. Jay ordered his loyal manager Ron (Adam Sandler) and publicist Liz (Laura Dern) to get him on the same train bound for Italy with her, so he can invite her to join him to attend a career tribute organized for him in Tuscany. 

Feeling pensive at this turning point of his career, Jay did plenty of reminiscing about people he encountered along the way when he was younger (Charlie Rowe as young Jay). There was Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), the director who gave him his big break. There was Timothy Galligan (Billy Crudup), his old friend from acting school to lost a big role to him. There was Daphne (Eve Hewson), a female co-star with whom he had an affair.  

However, it was with his own family that Jay had the most conflict with because he had always prioritized his movie career over all of them. Aside from Daisy who would rather travel with her friends than with him, there was elder daughter Jessica (Riley Keough), who was seeing a therapist  (Josh Hamilton) to sort through her father issues. Like his girls, Jay also had trouble connecting with his own father (Stacy Keach). 

At this senior statesman stage in his real life career, George Clooney was perfectly cast as Jay Kelly. His portrayal felt so effortlessly natural, you'd believe that these things were happening in actuality. Clooney's Jay was a suave and cool superstar, but when each and every important person in his life was turning him down, you can clearly see his ego collapsing even without a word being said. That climactic film montage tribute for Jay Kelly was a tribute for George Clooney himself, and those mixed emotions on his face say it all. 

Also gaining much critical attention now is Adam Sandler, as Jay's hard-working, street-smart manager, which fit so well with his personality. When Ron finally realized that Jay was purely business and never a friend, he also realized that he had been prioritizing Jay too much, over his wife Lois (Greta Gerwig) and other clients, like Ben Alcock (Patrick Wilson). This scene, plus that perfectly timed tear when Jay held his hand, may well just win him the Oscar.  

Three Best Picture Oscar hopefuls -- "Hamnet," "Sentimental Value," and now this "Jay Kelly" share a plot point in common. They were all about male artists who had once abandoned their families for their careers, and were hence having difficulty reconnecting with them. Mescal, Skarsgard and Clooney all gave moving performances, but Clooney is the only one gunning for Best Actor, while the other two had been relegated (unfairly) as Supporting. 

Noah Baumbach directed and co-wrote (with Emily Mortimer) this reflective inside-look into a senior actor's life, and those of the people around him. Having been a filmmaker since the mid-1990s had provided Baumbach with so much behind-the-scene stories to work into not only Jay Kelly's story, but also Ron's, Liz's and his daughters. These interpersonal conflicts were brought to life with wit and sensitivity in Baumbach's signature dialog-driven style.    8/10 

Review of HAMNET: Song of Shakespeare's Son

December 8, 2025

William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) was working as a tutor when he met Agnes (Jessie Buckley) whom he saw training her pet falcon. His parents were against him seeing her because she was rumored to be the daughter of a forest witch. However, William and Agnes still got married, and had a daughter Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach). Soon after, Agnes allowed William to pursue his theater career in London, even if she was again pregnant, this time with twins, who grew up to be Judith (Olivia Lynes) and Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe). 

This film was directed, co-written and co-edited by Chloe Zhao, her latest project after winning the Oscar for Best Director for "Nomadland" (2020). The screenplay was co-written with Maggie O'Farrell, the author of the 2020 award-winning historical fiction novel upon which the story was adapted from. By the time I watched this film, this film is already widely-predicted to be one of the big players come Oscar season, hence awards expectations are very high. 

The loudest Oscar buzz is for Jessie Buckley and her passionate portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare, who went through an emotional roller-coaster throughout this film. Majority of critics are already naming her as the Best Actress winner as early as now. Prior to this film, I only knew her from two Netflix films -- "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" (2020) and "The Lost Daughter" (2021), and even then, she already proved her chops for intense drama.

Paul Mescal has been very active since his debut in "The Lost Daughter," which was soon followed-up with an acclaimed turn in "Aftersun" (2022) which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. His role in "Hamnet" was being touted as supporting, likely for campaign purposes, but I thought his part was just as important for this story. He was the one who wrote a theatrical masterpiece in order to heal himself and his wife from their grief. 

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. 8/10

Review of FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2: Mayhem by Marionette

December 6, 2025

One year after the events of the first movie, Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) was still having nightmares about her father William Afton (Matthew Lillard) and his murderous acts. Meanwhile, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) still took care of his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio), who was a devoted fan of the original Freddy Fazbear animatronic characters. One day, Toy Chica (voiced by Megan Fox) called Abby on her FazTalker radio toy. 

Despite negative reviews, the first "Five Nights at Freddy's" film (Emma Tammi, 2023, MY REVIEW) earned back almost 15x its original production cost and is Blumhouse's top-grossing film of all time.  "Five Nights at Freddy's" was originally a video game series about a night security guard trying to survive being killed by animatronic characters of a pizza shop. Game creator Scott Cawthon himself wrote the screenplay of the first film, as well as this sequel. 

We actually see three different versions of the main animatronic quartet in this sequel. The main set we mainly see are the newer-looking Toy versions of Freddy, Chica and Bonnie, and Foxy (the jump-scary Mangle). We also see the scarier-looking Withered versions, prototypes cannibalized for spare parts, in the basement. The original versions make a brief, but surprisingly emotional appearance. Their "acting" was actually better than the human actors. 

For a Gen X'ers like me, it was good to see three actors from notable 1990s suspense films again. Matthew Lillard (Shaggy of "Scooby Doo") reprised his role as William Afton. Skeet Ulrich (Billy Loomis of "Scream") played the role of Henry Emily, father of Charlotte, the angry anti-parents spirit in the scary Marionette.  Wayne Knight (Dennis Nedry in "Jurassic Park") was once again an irritating nerd, Abby's middle-school science teacher Mr. Berg.  

Like the first film, this sequel will be better appreciated by fans of the FNaF video game than those who have no knowledge of the game at all. I have never played the game, so I was only introduced to the franchise via the 2023 film. My sons, who are very familiar with the game, had fun excitedly recognizing various cameos (of Circus Baby, Balloon Boy, and another major one revealed at the mid-credit extra scene) that all drew a blank for me. 

There was a whole big to-do about a town festival called FazFest dedicated to the local lore surrounding these animatronic characters. There was even a scene where Toy Freddie was walking among the crowd at the festival. However, all of this build-up of a horrific bloody massacre went to naught as the climax only occurred in the Schmidt house -- such a waste of a potential Grand-Guignol type finale. I rate this a 4/10. My sons rated it only a 5/10.