February 21, 2026
Angel (Barbie Forteza) was supposed to graduate senior high school but she was failing her math and chemistry classes. Her father Raymund (Albert Martinez) and her mother Gloria (Angel Aquino) were both too busy to make time to go to school with her to meet with her adviser Teacher Rene (Eric Quizon) to talk about remedials. Angel asked her maternal grandmother Concha (Charo Santos-Concio) to go with her instead.
Since her parents were both always away at work or fighting each other, Angel decided to stay at her Lola Concha's place that summer to care for her health issues. They bonded over Concha's daily routine with her garden, her chickens and lovebirds. One day, Angel learned about a certain Catherine de Leon (Boots Anson Roa-Rodrigo) with whom Concha had a close friendship in the past. For Concha's sake, Angel decided to go search for Catherine.
Written and directed by Brillante Mendoza, this family and personal drama was a departure from the crime and war films he had been doing of late. The story dealt with how love can pervade over fading memory, but this one carried with it an unconventional underlying premise that should set it apart from others of its genre. As he is known for, Mendoza allowed his actors to devise their own characters without a hard-and-fast script in hand.
The main draw of this film was the deeply emotional performances of the three actresses that head its star-studded cast.
Ever since she returned to acting after a long stint as a TV executive, from every film starring Charo Santos-Concio, from "Ang Babaeng Humayo" (2016) to "Only We Know" (2025), had been major events, and her acting this one is no different. Her portrayal of Concha was a heartfelt one marked by a sincere and unwavering loyalty to someone she considered her soulmate, despite decades of estrangement and personal difficulties.
Boots Anson Roa-Rodrigo has been acting in films since 1968, with more than 110 films in her career, in addition to her roles on television as actress and host. Compared to the usual her very wholesome roles I know her from, this character of Catherine was a very daring one -- both conceptually (she played a teacher who crossed a line of taboo), and physically (she had a scene where her blouse was removed) -- and she did these at age 81.
I first saw Barbie Forteza on the big screen as a 16 year-old in the Cinemalaya film "Mariquina" (2014), and she was already quite an impressive dramatic actress back then. Forteza is 28 now, but she can still pull off playing 16 year-old Angel here, in whose point of view the story of her elders was being told. It was on her own initiative that Angel actively sought this reunion, and Forteza's enthusiasm made us root her on in her quest.
Mercado had some interesting choices in the language of certain details and scenes. As Catherine was Concha's teacher in Literature class, their favorite poem was "Tonight I Can Write (The Saddest Lines)," the English translation of a poem by Pablo Neruda The first between them after a 50-year separation was rendered in pure English. The recurrent theme music being played was "End of the World," a 1962 song by Skeeter Davis.
There were scene transitions midway in the film that would seem so jarring and illogical. Significant events were happening onscreen, but there wasn't much buildup or excitement. A scene involving lovebirds will make you scratch your head in puzzlement. However, Mendoza would soon clear up things eventually, but with much restraint. This imbued the storytelling with more unexpected emotion, without ever resorting to over-the-top melodrama. 7/10
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