Cinemalaya 2026: Review of STATUS: REJECTED: Striking Senior Sentiment

 August 13, 2026

Virginia "Biring" Divinagracia (Ruby Ruiz) had tried to apply for a US tourist visa five times, but was always declined. She wanted to go in order to meet up with her son Clark (Karl Medina), had been staying the US illegally for several years already. She now lived with her daughter Anna (Alessandra de Rossi), who had a teenage daughter Sophie (Yani Villaosa). Biring's relationship with Anna was strained by their financial woes. 

Biring liked going out with her friend Tessie (Beverly Salviejo), buying used clothes at the ukay-ukay or hanging out at the red light district. Tessie came up with the idea for Biring to updating her social media profile so she can attract an American boyfriend. One night, Biring accepted a friend request from an American veteran soldier named Steve Johnson. When Steve initiated a chat, Biring replied out of curiosity. Soon, an online romance bloomed. 

Ruby Ruiz has been working in bit roles since 1984, but had her big career breakthrough in "Ekstra" (Cinemalaya 2013) which won her awards. Since then, she has been a very visible staple of several indie films that had a role for a senior actress, big or small. She soon got to play lead roles in films like "Iska" (Cinemalaya 2019), "Tigkiwili" (2025), "First Light" (2026), and even played Nicole Kidman's nanny in the series "Expats" (2024). 

As expected, Ruiz went all in in her quirky yet sensitive portrayal of Biring in this latest lead role of hers. Ruiz's Biring was a lonely old woman desperately looking for love, even if he was just an online presence. We witness her falling head over heels in love with this mysterious sweet-talker, who even managed to arouse her dormant libido. The whole time, she makes us worry about her, caring if she was just the latest victim of an elaborate scammer. 

Director and co-writer Vahn Leinard C. Pascual started his filmmaking career with queer short films. His feature directorial debut had a topic outside his usual wheelhouse, but being a self-confessed "lola's boy," his sincerity and love for his lead character was quite palpable.  Along with the work of cinematographer Martika Ramirez Escobar and production designer Marielle Hizon, Pascual drew us deeper into Biring's loneliness and second coming-of-age. 7/10

Cinemalaya 2026: Review of MAG-IINA: Matriarchal Mania

August 12. 2026

Anj (Janine Gutierrez) had lived in New York City since she was sent over there at age 15. She finally got to fly back home and reunite with her long-estranged family -- her mother Mita (Agot Isidro), her aunt Ysobel (Cherry Pie Picache) and her grandmother (Jackie Lou Blanco) -- for the occasion of the 40th day of her late father Ynigo Abreu Jr. or Ygo (Bart Guingona). Ysobel had adopted a young boy and renamed him Ynigo III (Lucas Andalio).  An all-around housemaid named Katte (Ness Roque) held sway in the kitchen. 

For people who are familiar with his plays, if it is written by Guelan Varela Luarca, you know you are in for a profound emotional roller-coaster. "Mag-iina" is his screen adaptation of his own play "Corridors." This play had won First Prize at the 72nd Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards in 2024, Luarca's fifth, which elevated him to the Palanca Hall of Fame. It just had a staged reading by CAST this January 2026, so I was surprised that it took a big leap into a film version before a fully-staged production was done. 

Janine Gutierrez's Anj was not going to let her family's eccentricities push her down as she finally got to experience them first hand, bringing us all along on her wild outlandish 3-day ride. Agot Isidro had a field day with Mita's neurotic psyche and emotional instability. Cherry Pie Picache's Ysobel seemed so calm outside, but turned out to be a hot slurping mess inside. Ness Roque's santol-squeezing Katte may be of lowest rank, but she proved no easy pushover in the way she marinated chicken or held black candle seances. 

The elegant Jackie Lou Blanco was deglamorized, with her skin looking like melted wax, ultimately even enduring to wear a whole-body prosthetic suit to execute the film's most unsettling body-horror scene. Her high-handed, Spanish- and expletive-riddled monologue at the dinner table was unforgettable.  Child actor Lucas Andalio fell right in step and held his own among the senior actors, having to do some pretty sick, grotesque stuff that require post-shoot debriefings. Those bloody lactation scenes really pushed the envelope. 

This convoluted story was actually quite a big risk to bring to the big screen, as it blurred lines between what was a nightmare and what was real. Furthermore, even if the story's premise starts off as merely odd, weird or creepy, it would later escalate into majorly bizarre and  scandalous mayhem, the likes of which can throw off casual viewers. The visual creativity of director Giancarlo Abrahan was in overdrive to create the veritable Gothic twilight zone in this maze-like house, which in itself was a major character in this film. 8/10 

Cinemalaya 2026: Review of TIRIK: Candles of Conscience and Clarity

August 11, 2026

Paring Bert (Rocco Nacino) was the parish priest of a church in Quezon City. He had been invited to the wake of a young former parishioner of his who had passed away as a casualty from the war on drugs. His taxi driver friend Santos Mira (Floyd Tena) just so happened to be at the church at that time to rest after a long night's drive. He volunteered to drive Paring Bert to his destination in Cavite using his old white taxi, license plate ABS 7029.

Along the way there, they made several stopovers and encountered various people. They brought an injured dog into a veterinarian's clinic and met a nutty family (Jess Mendoza, Chai Fonacier) there. Santos went to join a roadside drinking session to confront a thief. Fr. Bert went to visit his mentor, Fr. Jess (Glenn Sevilla Mas) in his vintage stone church. Santos requested that they make one final stop at a small shack in a remote area. 

This film is the feature directorial debut of May-i Padilla, who also co-wrote the script (with Charlson Ong) and did the editing. It was like they knew the ending they wanted first, and just added the rest of narrative up to build up to that ending. The events in the previous stops along the way seem so random and do not exactly relate to what happens in the ending. However, on hindsight, they all certainly portended to that eventuality. 

The slow pace of the storytelling may actually prove to be difficult to ride with, especially for impatient viewers. Most of the film was just conversations between Paring Bert and Santos, much of them set within the confines of the taxi cab while driving around. The vet clinic scenes were funny, even if it involved euthanasia and grave digging. The atmosphere grew heavier and heavier with every stop, and Padilla made sure we all felt that sense of danger. 

Paring Bert was based on a real-life Jesuit priest, Paring Bert Alejo, an activist for various socio-political issues. Rocco Nacino's Paring Bert was careful and level-headed, but there were issues like their youth council that he was passionate about. Floyd Tena caught director Padilla's attention when he played the hangman in "Gomburza" (2023). His Santos Mira was friendly as taxi drivers usuallywere. However, he also projected a distubing inner turmoil.

This film has a Catholic priest as the lead character, so importants cenes were set in churches. The churches chosen for locations were both historic -- the Basilica Minore de San Pedro Bautista in Quezon City, and Diocesan Shrine and Parish of San Andres in Masinloc, Zambales. The latter had a picturesque little pond where lit candles were floated on, where Bert and Santos' had their most heart-to-heart talk. 6/10

Cinemalaya 2026: Review of HAND OF GOD: The Glorious and the Grim

August 10. 2026

Lt. Edgardo Reyes (Ruru Madrid) and his men were assigned to a small settlement called Pusong-pusong in Basilan, under the leadership of Pah Ismail (Ronnie Lazaro). Their mission was one of community service -- to teach the children there the sport of football. While they were assembling  the goalposts, the residents paid them no mind. The soldiers played ball among themselves. Soon, curious children went to watch and play. 

One of the boys was Khaleel (KD Omalin), who had been taken in as a child warrior by a Muslim rebel group led by Omar (Jhong Hilario). When Omar allowed Khaleel to go visit his mother Farida Kapeng (Iza Calzado), he was convinced to stay and learn how to play football with his friends, specifically as the goalie. One day, Lt. Reyes proposed that the kids be allowed to go with him to Manila to join a football tournament there. 

Ruru Madrid played the ideal idealistic military man Ed, while Sue Ramirez played his ideal supportive wife Fatima -- both looked and felt very good as the kids' surrogate parents going over and beyond the call of their duty.  Iza Calzado had the perfect face for tragedy, Ronnie Lazaro for leadership, and Jhong Hilario for ruthlessness. New child actor KD Omalin held his own in the company of these veteran actors and shone as the heart of the whole film. 

This film is the directorial debut of TV and film writer Mark Duane Angos. The story was based on Angos' personal experience 12 years ago when his Manila-based youth football team were able to play with a team of kids from Mindanao. Angos brought both the glorious and the grim aspects of that memorable intercultural interaction of his to the big screen. Seen in this light, his seeming bias, which can be felt while watching the film, can somehow be rationalized. 

I watched this film right after watching "Ganggang," another film in competition in this Cinemalaya 2026. Both films basically told the same story of children playing in the warzone between the military and rebels.  The major difference was the point of views of the respective filmmakers on which group they portrayed as the good and as the bad. Watching both films would seem to give us a more balanced overview of the tense situation from both sides. 7/10

Cinemalaya 2026: Review of GANGGANG: Spiders on a Stick

August 8, 2026

Mel (Raine dela Cruz) was a new kid in  Brgy. Sidhaya, a remote community in rural Bulacan. He came with his father Sarge Medaro (Brian Arda), an officer who had been assigned to oversee the military checkpoints clamping down on NPA rebels operating in that area. At school, he became friends with Tenten (Don Rishmond Cerbito) and Ilay (Kenneth "Butchoy" Vincent Mendoza), who were frequent victims of class bully, Anton (Prince Espana).

Tenten lived with his farmer father Arman (Anton Nolasco) and his presently pregnant mother Connie (Pau Benitez). Ilay lived with his grandfather Lolo Omeng (Richard Mata) and Lola Rosing (Tabs Sumilang) who raised him after his parents passed away. Anton was the naughty son of their barangay captain Kap (Jers Diwa), himself an uncouth, ill-tempered man who was of a violent nature, and engaged in illicit activities with kickbacks. 

This film was written and directed by JL Burgos, who made waves in Cinemalaya XX with his last film "Alipato at Muog" (2024). In that award-winning documentary film, JL Burgos reflected upon the 2007 abduction and disappearance of his own older brother -- political activist Jonas Burgos, supposedly in the hands of military personnel.  Knowing this personal crusade of this filmmaker would clarify the spirit upon which "Ganggang" was built around. 

The story was told through the eyes of impressionable young boys living in the countryside. Despite the clean fresh air, scenic mountain views and simple rustic lifestyle around them, this was also where the decades-long unfortunate conflict between the military units and Communist rebel factions held sway. As it would happen among the three friends, one of the boys was a son of a military man, and the other was the son of a suspected NPA man. 

The three child actors in the lead roles were charming and believable, with Don Cerbito most outstanding in his more challenging role as Tenten. Burgos and his cinematographer Mac Cosico were able to stage some pretty suspenseful scenes, with the highlight being that climactic secret spider hunt which the boys did before dawn, enhanced by the editing of Mona Nieva, sound design of Drew Millalos and Anna de Dios, and musical score by RJ Mabilin. 

Burgos pushed his nationalist agenda in the lessons of teachers Rebelyn (Elora Espano) and Anding (Hershey Neri). Jose Lacaba's "Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa" set to music by Ding Achacoso and sung by Chikoy Pura was turned into a funeral march song. There were additional scenes which will make you stay behind to watch the closing credits in full, accompanied by "Isang Minutong Katahimikan," composed by Ericson Acosta and Renato Reyes, Jr., and performed by Aldus Santos, RJ Mabilin and Janine Samaniego. 7/10

Cinemalaya 2026: Review of A.NI.MAL: Prurient Politics

August 7, 2026

San Feliciano provincial governor Paul Reyes (Reymund Domingo) thought he was just spending a night alone in their mansion. Unbeknownst to him, an unexpected visitor, his godchild Lily (Maxine Ignacio), was outside his window at that moment. She witnessed her godfather in a compromising situation with his dog Bella (Bini). Lily caught this salacious scene on video on her phone, and immediately left to show the scandalous clip to her incredulous father, town Mayor Dan Peralta (Jojit Lorenzo), and mother Ofel (Frances Makil-Ignacio).  

"A.ni.mal" is the third Cinemalaya film written and directed by Dustin Celestino in the past four years. At first, there was "Duyan ng Magiting" (2023). then "Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan” (2025). Both films garnered critical acclaim and awards for its frankly incisive writing about Philippine politics and the intensely passionate acting by his cast. I personally ranked these two as the top best films of their respective year at Cinemalaya. A Dustin Celestino film or play carried with it a brand of eye-opening, thought-provoking art. 

While his two previous films were two dead serious examinations of the dire situation of national politics, this new one about local politicians is Celestino's funniest one ever. This is a biting satire of skillfully-written, darkly-comic and intellectually-stimulating conversations, from seemingly innocuous flirting and woke advocacies, steadily building up to highly-charged arguments about interpersonal and political relationships. Celestino is proud that this project was shot using an iPhone 17 Pro Max, all within 4 days and a P2.4M budget. 

Neophyte actress Maxine Ignacio is the real-life daughter of veteran Frances Makil-Ignacio, who played the mother of her character here. Her Lily was the quintessential, narcissistic, clout-chasing nepo baby who wanted all the attention on her. She was cluelessly entitled about her privilege, and Maxine was game to play her character's quirk up, not averse to be the butt of the joke.  Her passive-aggressive seduction of Dr. John (Anthony Falcon) at the dog-shelter and in his car was as uncomfortable to watch yet oddly delightful. 

Frances Makil-Ignacio's Ofel parlayed her beauty queen pulchritude to become Dan's trophy wife, not exactly her smarts. That scene when she struggled to sing "Saklolo" at a campaign sortie as conflicting emotions overtook her was definitely a shoo-in for "Scene of the Year" for me. With his mousy personality, bad toupee and lousy shirts, Jojit Lorenzo felt miscast as town mayor. It was only in his tense final scene with Gov Paul was it clear that Dan was meant to be a fool in the political game all along, and Lorenzo played him just as Celestino intended. 

Bituin Escalante appears only in the second half of the film as gubernatorial candidate Dr. Grace Reyes, but her impact was so powerful. The drama at Grace's political rally with Ofel concluded backstage with the vicious bull session right after.  Right after that came a confrontation scene between Grace and her husband Paul in their bedroom, where she lectured him about how rabbits behaved when in pain. This scene was made more remarkable by the fact that Reymund Domingo was Escalante's husband in real-life, and he also cut a formidable figure here. 8/10