March 27, 2026
Isabel Fuentes (Yuki Sonoda) won the Miss Global Beauty pageant, while her best friend Olivia Rose (Kelley Day) won first runner-up. One day, Isabel went missing. Investigating detectives Suarez (Angelica Cervantes) and Lontoc (Marco Gomez) first went to question Olivia about what she thought could have happened to Isa. The prime suspect was Isa's overly-jealous boyfriend PO1 William de la Cruz (Tony Labrusca), who was also missing.
The detectives also interviewed Isa's couturier and manager was Angel Alcantara (Jim Pebanco) who raised her when her parents passed away. They were also able to locate and interview photographer James Garcia (Itan Rosales), Olivia's ex-boyfriend whom she introduced to Isa and William. From every witness were revealed secrets and controversies about the pageant, as well as the manipulative relations between the lovers.
This is the latest film of prolific director Joel Lamangan, from a screenplay by Quinn Carillo. Carrillo began her career on Vivamax, as an actress first, later branching out to screenwriting. This is third writing project outside Vivamax since MMFF entry "My Father, Myself" (2022), also directed by Lamangan. Her very first screenplay was "Biyak" (2022), with a crime-adjacent story, and likewise directed by Lamangan.
The Philippines is crazy about beauty queens. However, there hasn't been too many films about them, mostly campy comedies, from "Temptation Island" (1980) to "Die Beautiful" (2016). This new film tells a crime-drama story that involves two beauty queens, mostly told as flashbacks according to the varying versions as told by persons of interest to the detectives investigating the case. Lamangan's style of camp and melodrama are in full show here.
Kelley Day finally emerges as a lead actress, giving a winsome performance as Olivia Rose, especially during that first interview. She got us to trust her story first, which was essential to the eventual unfolding of the plot. Day's Rose was the only character that had any development, as Yuki Sonoda was limited to being a flirtatious bimbo, while Tony Labrusca only had a frozen angry face as the intensely jealous boyfriend.
Jim Pebanco is a staple of all Joel Lamangan films, playing wide range of supporting roles. Here he plays Angel a curly-haired gay couturier who was strangely un-colorful, always wearing all black and a scowl. Angelica Cervantes, Marco Gomez and Itan Rosales come from the Vivamax school of acting. Their acting limitations are still evident, but it was good to see them venture into more mainstream roles outside the steamy streaming app.
SPOILER ALERT: When Suarez noticed the necklace at the wake, it was already quite clear what really happened, and it would have been quite a satisfyingly clever resolution right there. However, Lamangan still chose to show us all the details of the crime, and that was where the plot holes emerged. No way would a murder-suicide be a logical conclusion the way it was done. We also got treated to a scene where a dead body helped himself up into a car. 5/10
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