Cinepanalo 2026: Review of BEAST: A Cool and Chatty Carabao

September 30, 2026

Domingo "Omeng" Tonogbanua (John Arcilla) was a rice farmer from Pulilan, Bulacan who was well-loved by his neighbors. There was one young boy Pepe (Ruslan Jacob) who hung around Lolo Omeng constantly, help with chores and sketching on his drawing pad. One day, just before harvest time, he was informed that the owner of the land he tilled was already sold to a real estate developer and was going to be turned into a subdivision. 

That night, Omeng awakened to hear his loyal carabao BOB singing "Bituing Marikit" (voice of Robert Sena). It was only then that he realized that BOB could speak (voice of Lou Veloso) as well. Encouraged by BOB, Omeng decided to embark on a long distance road trip with BOB pulling his cart all the way to Manila.  He wanted to go look for his long-lost niece Marietta (Candy Pangilinan) whom he had entrusted with a foster family living in Luneta. 

This film was a charming, sentimental ode to the relationship of an old-school Filipino farmer to his trusty carabao. As written by Jim Flores, it imagines the conversations they would have if the carabao could talk, from the realistic to the philosophical. It was directed and edited by Law Fajardo, in a seeming departure from his usual hardnosed output, like "Posas" (2012, MY REVIEW), "A Hard Day" (2022, MY REVIEW) and "Reroute" (2023, MY REVIEW). 

Front and center in this film is John Arcilla in a tender, quiet performance we do not commonly see from him. His Lolo Omeng was low-key and submissive, just going with where the flow of life takes him, representative of the Filipino common tao. He was kind and helpful to his neighbors, and even to total strangers, sometimes to a fault. As Omeng, Arcilla had about him a calm positive aura, in total contrast with the villainous roles that he'd played of late. 

Along his road trip, Omeng met various people along the way -- the young single mother (XY Martillo) off to work in Ermita, the young runaway (Karl Medina) who lived in the North Cemetery, the bully in the Hi-Ace (John Arceo), the barangay officials (Marvin Yap) who detained him, the flamboyant tour guide (Onyl Torres) and his noisy coterie of influencers.  This aspect of the film may colorful, but they felt random, odd and unfocused. 

Arcilla's first moment with Candy Pangilinan hit very hard emotionally, even with hardly a word said. I really thought the film would end at that point and it would have been perfect tearful close. However, the film still continued and even amped up the fantasy element another notch. And then there was the twist that brought the whimsy which held sway in the past hour come crashing back down to reality. So, whose fantasies did we actually see? 7/10 

Cinepanalo 2026: Review of APOL OF MY AI: A Crushing Crush

September 30, 2026

The mother of 10 year-old Apolinario "Apol" Medina, Jr. (Zion Cruz) passed away 10 months ago. His father Poli (Zanjoe Marudo) just came back one month ago from his job as a folk singer in Japan to take care of his son. However, both found it difficult to connect to each other as father and son. Having lived without him for most his life, Apol believed that he did not need his father anymore and shunned his father's efforts to establish rapport with him. 

At school, Apol was a frequent visitor to the principal's office for his numerous infractions of school rules, together with his BFF Max (Jacob Cawagdan). One day, their FIlipino teacher went into labor prematurely. A substitute teacher, Miss Maria Aileen 'Ma'am Ai" Melendez (Rochelle Pangilinan) was assigned to take over, on whom Apol developed a serious crush. Ma'am Ai was also the adviser of the school choir, so Apol auditioned to join. 

The story of this film fell right into the wheelhouse of director Thop Nazareno, whose past films all showed his proficiency in telling stories about young boys who are going through tough father-son relationships, like "Kiko Boksingero" (2017, MY REVIEW) and "Edward" (2019, MY REVIEW). The charming screenplay was written by Mark Raywin Tome and Che Espiritu-Istrael, adding the angle of a boyhood crush on a teacher into the mix. 

Zanjoe Marudo imbued the father Poli with regret and patience. He was being treated rudely by his son, but he remained calm and worked harder to win his love. He recognized that owing to his long absence, earning his son's trust back would not be an easy process. Rochelle Pangilinan was a refreshing screen presence as the disarming Ma'am Ai. She handled those awkward moments with her lovestruck student with sensitivity and compassion.

The shining jewel at the center of this precious film was the winsome Zion Cruz as Apol. With his fair complexion and deep dimple, he can charm audiences effortlessly, especially in those "kilig" moments with Ma'am Ai. He can also sing, delivering a mean acapella rendition of kundiman "Bituing Marikit." All the pent-up resentment he had against his long-estranged father had to blow up at one point, and Cruz went all-out for it, making us all feel his anger and pain. Cruz gave a strong lead performance deserving of a Best Actor consideration. 8/10