Review of EDJOP: Running a Race of Redemption

September 10, 2026

Edgar Jopson or "Edjop" (Elijah Canlas) was the second of 12 children of supermarket owners Hernan and Josefa Jopson (Teroy Guzman and Issa Litton). He had his high school and college years at the Ateneo. He was active in political issues and soon became the president of the National Union of Students in the Philippines. He was able to challenge President Ferdinand Marcos face to face to promise not to run for a third term. 

Joyette Jopson (Jodie Sta. Maria) was the second child of Edjop and his wife Joy (Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo) after eldest son Noy (Cedrick Juan). She was only 3 when her father died. She was into running long road races, most notably the grueling FWD 78° North Marathon in Norway in which she finished first in 2019. When her sister Risa (Regina de Vera) invites her to attend an event held in their father's honor, she would decline. 

This film was co-written (with Jade Castro) and directed by Katski Flores. In the very first scene, Joyette enumerated for us the different kinds of races that she had run in -- point to point, out and back, and multi-loop. She tells us how these types of races can also refer to the various ways a person's life story can be told. With such an unexpectedly astute introduction, we already knew right there that the film we are going to watch will be an intelligent one. 

Edjop's story was told in flashbacks, but even these flashbacks were not in linear order. It started in Davao City 1982, detailing the events on the night which would prove to be his last. We were then brought back to his halcyon school days until his political activism took over. Elijah Canlas played Edjop from high school age up to his death at age 34, portraying his coming-of-age from moderate reformist to Communist rebel to address his social advocacies. 

Jodie Sta. Maria has always been a reliable dramatic actress and her performance here was as excellent as she was expected to deliver and more. As she is portraying a topnotch athlete here, there was an intense physical component to her role here than most of her usual roles. Her running, open water swimming and bicycle stages in Ironman were convincingly staged. Her emotional monologue about her father at the end was impeccably delivered.

Another notable performance was turned in by Kakie Pangilinan as young Joy Asuncion, in a most impressive big screen debut. Her Joy was a sensible and brave young woman who was herself very politically aware and staunchly supportive of Edjop. She also had her own opinions and voiced them out, as shown in that China visit scene. For an acting neophyte, Pangilinan gave a natural and assured performance, remarkable in its subtlely.

Minor characters were played by theater actors, several Ateneo-based, as Flores also is. Thea Marabut, Jam Binay, Nour Houshmand play Edjop's sisters. We also see Bryan Sy, Missy Maramara, Kalil Almonte, Gab Pangilinan, Delphine Buencamino, Nor Domingo, Ron Capinding, Joseph dela Cruz, Yan Yuzon, Gold Soon. Inka Magnaye had a cameo playing intellectual prostitute Ursula Andres. VMX star Nicco Locco played Joyette's coach Thomas. A distracting case of miscasting though was that of Christian Esguerra as the late dictator. 

The technical aspects were all commendable. The cinematography of Neil Daza was topnotch, with all his vivid colors and camera angles. One memorable shot was that when Joyette swims out into the ocean as the water turned from bright to dark blue.  The film editing done by Benjamin Gonzalez Tolentino was clean and seamless. The period production design by Erik Manalo for the 1970s to the 1980s was meticulously done. The choice of Mike Hanopol's "Laki sa Layaw," while invigorating, seemed inappropriate to fit Edjop's personality.  

Joyette's final speech here was essentially a call to action for the audience to be brave, a message still very much appropriate for the turbulent political climate today. For her, Edjop is a symbolic concept for hope as our country continues to face adversity. She talked about another kind of race she has yet to run -- a relay race. This is an eloquent metaphor for the passing on the torch of nationalism to succeeding generations so our country can eventually crawl out the dark tunnel of corruption and emerge out into the light in the future. 9/10 

Review of LIFE AFTER YOU: Reluctantly Responsible

September 10, 2026

Joey del Mundo (Bela Padilla) worked as an assistant director and choreographer in a commercial ad company. She loved her work and was very busy, a favorite of her boss Alex (Peach Caparas). However in one more week, Joey was already about to leave for Canada to continue her studies. One night, Joey invited her elder sister Dianne (Ryza Cenon) to go out for a night-out with her. Tragically, Dianne never made it back home anymore that night.

Joey had to forego all her Canada plans to take care of Dianne's little daughter Denise (Dani Zee). As she had no housekeeping experience, Joey could not keep up with Denise's daily needs alongside the tasks expected of her in her commercial shoots. Out of desperation, Joey texted the other contact person in Denise's school record. Her name was Bella Concepcion (Maricel Soriano), who admitted that she was Denise's grandmother on her father's side.

There have been a number of past films tackling this same story about someone whose life got topsy-turvy because he suddenly needed to take care of an unexpected child not his own. Writer-director Marla Ancheta gave Joey's reluctant guardian trope another dimension by involving a mother Bella who felt guilty that her son Carl (Marlo Mortel) would not accept his daughter because of a painful episode of betrayal they shared in the past.  

While it was treated as supposedly funny, I did not understand why Joey was so rude to Bella during their first meeting. I get that Joey was very frustrated and stressed out, but Bella was not doing anything to provoke her disrespectful tone of voice and behavior against a much older woman. I guess Ancheta was trying to create initial friction between these two women, but this did not seem to be a realistic scenario for their "meet-cute" of sorts. 

As was usual in female-led films, men were the jerks here. Bella's husband Fred (Jeric Raval) once brought home a daughter from his second family, which destroyed his first family. You'd understand why Carl would want to protect his current family from suffering the same fate if he introduced Denise. Too bad Ancheta did not elaborate why Carl abandoned Dianne in the first place before he met Stacey (Krissha Viaje) and had their Winter (Cali Buena). 

Maricel Soriano's Bella was a delightful lady with her Gen X sense of humor. She shone best in that confrontation scene with Carl with her effortless tears, and endears us to her more. Ancheta's script really gave Joey the shorter end of the stick, from her sister's death, instant motherhood, job troubles, physical disability. Bela Padilla portrayed Joey with rawness, abrasive even, but she was tough, and we still root for her to get her life back on track. 7/10 

Review of SAVING CHERRY: The Necessity for Non-Negotiables

September 3, 2026

Cherry Valdez (Barbie Forteza) and Jude Nicolas (Khalil Ramos) have pledged themselves to remain pure and chaste until marriage. In anticipation of losing her virginity, Cherry was being advised by her gang of close pals. They are: flirty Jewel (Mika Salamanca), married Beth (Mikee Quintos), reserved Ingrid (AC Bonifacio) and comical Martha (Sassa Gurl), she was advised on the perfect wardrobe, scent, positions, and moans. 

Their wedding ceremony and reception party all went great. On their wedding night, Cherry was nervously psyching herself up for her first time in their honeymoon suite, but Jude was taking a very long time to arrive. Both concerned and impatient at the same time, Cherry went out looking for him. She was shell-shocked to find her new husband in a compromising canoodling clinch with another girl named Eunice (Monina Lawrence).

A major part of the film written by director Ivan Andrew Payawal with Fatrick Tabada dealt with Cherry's wrath at Jude's betrayal by wanting to get even. Borne out of her extreme frustration to still be a virgin after all these years, her method of choice was to get herself devirginized by any man -- be it by a random hot guy at the disco Josh (JC Alcantara), an ex-boyfriend Matthew (Than Perez), or even a macho dancer Omar (Kokoy de Santos). 

Honestly I was not really a fan of these loud, noisy and raunchy scenes of Cherry and her gang. I know Forteza and her fellow actresses were just doing all of their exaggerated facial expressions and body posturing in the name of being funny, but I admit I am not the target demographic of these gags. I realize they are supposed to be "funny," but I did not find these funny at all, only annoying and, in my view, even demeaning to women.

When practically every heterosexual male characters with a name in this film were depicted to be cheaters, it was as if Payawal and Tabada were generalizing this unfortunate unflattering trait to all men. It was suggested that it was a social norm that women simply have to accept the situation, forgive him, and move on with their lives as a couple. Could there not have been an exception to the rule somewhere to represent us good guys, loyal to their wives?

When all the madcap hubbub and superglue mishaps finally settled down, Cherry and Jude got their moment to get serious and talk. It was clear that Forteza and Ramos were at their best when in their dramatic wheelhouse. While mixed signals were being bandied around for most of the film, it was only in the last 15 minutes that Payawal and Tabada's main message to women about setting non-negotiables in relationships was delivered loud and clear.  4/10

Review of PLUMP BLOSSOM: AI in Animation: Acceptable or Anathema?

September 1, 2026

It was the Hwang Dynasty in China. The Emperor (Audie Gemora) had one daughter named Ruo Hwa (Candice Tan). She was better known as "Plump Blossom" because of her chubby cheeks and frame, symbols of good health and prosperity. She had six meals between her breakfast and her dinner. Instead of her royal duties, she would rather spend her days in the kitchen, helping Chef Bao (Gutch Gutierrez) and his staff prepare the food. 

One night, Ruo Hwa saw the chef tending to the wounds of a seriously injured young man. He was Yu Jian (Don Puno), who turned out to be a young general in the army protecting the palace from its enemies. Unmindful of her station and reputation, Ruo Hwa took care of him and nursed him back to full consciousness. Thinking that she was a kitchen maid, the handsome soldier with abs like a jade pillow soon developed a close friendship with her.

Likely inspired by Disney animated films, Hwang also included animal sidekicks who can communicate with their masters. For Ruo Hwa, it was a dignified Pekingese dog named Yuan Yuan (Yeng Her) to whom she confided her secrets. For General Jian, it was a battle-scarred carrier pigeon named General Feathers (Chad Williams), who served to bridge their long-distance love affair. With their witty banter and wisecracks, they provided much comic relief.

This is the feature-length directorial debut of Kapitana Films producer Rossana Hwang, who also wrote the screenplay. This passion project of hers was certainly an audacious undertaking for three reasons. First, the language of this film is English (with Chinese subtitles), which may be misinterpreted as classism. Second, her story was based in historic China, odd for a Filipino filmmaker to do considering the WPS issues. Third and most controversial of all, she openly admitted that she used "AI-assisted" tools in this film, as obvious from the trailer. 

It is unfortunate for Hwang that whatever quality her movie has, it would likely always be criticized for its use of AI -- especially since it is the first Filipino-produced film released in cinemas to openly admit using AI tools. Hwang cited budget constraints as her reason to use AI, but even then, AI remains to be a sensitive red flag topic when it comes to creating art. AI is perceived to be the "lazy" way to do animation as it can take over the frame-by-frame work of human animators that would cost way more time and money. 

The final frame called this film "a hybrid production combining traditional animation techniques with emerging AI-assisted tools and workflows. There were human creatives behind the scenes: Rene Francis Hermoso as Chief Animator, Pedro Chuidan for VFX, Justin Zapata and Franz Niedo for character sculpting. As for the songs, Hwang and Ken Aoki were credited as lyricist and arranger, while Candice Tan, Maria Buenaventura, Paulina Yeung and Paeng Sudayan as the vocalists. The voice actors were likewise all credited accordingly.

Putting aside all the AI hullabaloo (impossible now, I know), this film may still find its limited niche among Generation X, they who share the same world view as Hwang herself. There were admittedly moments that were delightful, moving, cute and "kilig" sprinkled throughout this film which our aunties or titas will like and enjoy. How the film industry and the viewing public will view the seemingly inevitable role of AI in filmmaking in succeeding years still remains to be seen. Rossana Hwang just boldly dared to cross that Rubicon earlier. 

Review of FILIPIÑANA: Metaphors in a Microcosm

August 29, 2026

Dr. Palanca (Teroy Guzman) was the charismatic Ilocano president of a golf and country club catering mostly to tourists from China. One of the tee-girls working there was Isabel (Jorrybell Agoto), who was walking from one part of the club to another looking for Dr. Palanca in order to return a golf club to him. No one seemed to know where he was exactly, not even his wife (Agot Isidro) nor their bodyguard Rodel (Dyas Adarlo). 

Meanwhile, Clara (Carmen Castellanos), a young balikbayan student, was on the green that same day with her caddy Ina (Isabel Sicat), playing with her uncle Renato (Carlos Siguion-Reyna) who was a member. There was also a nanny (Thea Marabut) who was looking for her ward (Jewel Sotelo), a little girl in a red dress with dragonfly-shaped clips on her hair, whom Isabel actually saw running around the golf course. 

This film is the feature-length directorial debut of Rafael Manuel. I was able to watch his breakthrough thesis short film also entitled "Filipinana" (2020), of which this current film is the expanded version. I have seen this golf course, tee girl Isabel and her cohorts before, and was already enthralled by his unique cinematic vision with his color palette and shot selection. It had won the Silver Berlin Bear for best short film and other international awards back then.

With its manicured grass, water sprinklers, electronic carts, a golf course is a perfect symbol of the privileged elite. While the wealthy club members go around hitting little balls into little holes, they are being waited on hand and foot by their caddies, tee girls, ball pickers, food servers, etc. Most were developed out of farmlands, from whom the tenant farmers had been driven out of their homes and livelihood -- further emphasizing the class divide. 

Cinematographer Xenia Patricia was able to capture and relay the bleakness of the golf course despite of its aesthetic exteriors and luxurious interiors. The costume designs by Carla Villanueva and Tatjana Fanny Honegger were striking aspects of this film. There was color-coding for ease of character identification -- mint green mini-dresses for the tee-girls, hot pink uniforms for the female caddies, all-white outfits for the Chinese club guests. 

Music is also an important part of this film. There was a fragment of a melody that Isabel kept humming, but cannot recall the title and lyrics. Filipinos will likely recognize the folk song when it is sung in full later in the film. Also featured is a band of blind musicians led by Bullet Dumas as lead singer. They rendered a very catchy campaign jingle to re-elect Dr. Palanca, accompanying a lively dance by middle-aged matrons and their teenage boy partners. 

Even when it can get rather annoying for mainstream viewers, the slowness of the pace of this film's storytelling, with dialog which sometimes seemed to go  nowhere, was also a deliberate metaphor of the frustrating snail's pace at which our country is progressing (or not). While the satire was mostly light and whimsical, it did turn very dark at the end when it suggested that youth and innocence are the biggest victims of this dire system we are in.  

Isabel represents us, the common Filipino. We need to sneak around in order to enjoy simple joys of life -- like a luscious mango or a refreshing shower. We are obsessed in following the rich and famous around, even if our fates are at their mercy. We call for help when we see a problem, but often these fall on deaf ears, so we need to act on our own. However, our eagerness to help others can also lead us to our own harm. 8/10

 

Review of INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER: Diabolical Dentistry

 August 23, 2026

When Gemma Hall (Charli Penton) was a little girl, she was left to her devices by her mother Ingrid (Laura Gordon). When she came home from school, Gemma had to prepare her own dinner and study by herself in the dark using a flashlight. One night, Gemma witnessed her mother have an attack of mental disturbance while in the bathroom. Ingrid told her poor daughter to watch her as she banged her head on the wall, until the door banged itself shut.

Several years later, adult Gemma (Amelia Eve) was now working as a dental hygienist. She was a single parent to a young daughter Maya (Island Austin), and had a police officer Nick (Brandon Perea) as a boyfriend. One night, Gemma had a scary nightmare about a mysterious voice calling her on the phone, telling her to help him. When she woke up the next morning, she saw an old flashlight she had found in her dream was on her bed.

The first serious scare came about 30 minutes in when Gemma found herself crawling in a narrow passageway where she first came face to face with three ghastly-looking white-faced entities, one of whom gave her a brooch to bring back. Right after, Gemma had to clean the teeth of one of those creepy people on their street, Lester (Joshua Lopez), in a very unsettling and disgusting sequence that is the stuff of every dentophobe's nightmare. 

Of course, fans of the Insidious franchise will get excited when parapsychologist Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) first shows up. We are reminded that Elise had been dead since 2011, but she still existed in the Further. To help Gemma with her problem, Elise directed her to see Clare (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), a medium between the real world and Elise in the Further. It turned out that Gemma was a traveler and a courier between the two dimensions. 

The first "Insidious" (2010) introduced Lynn Shaye's Elise to us, but the character died right there. In sequels "Insidious: Chapter 2" (2013) and "Insidious: The Red Door" (2023), Shaye still played Elise appearing as a spirit like in this one. "Red Door" ended the Lambert's story when their red door was sealed. With this sixth installment, a new red door opened for Gemma and for more sequels to come, should the filmmakers decide to proceed for the fans. 7/10.

 

Review of THE END OF OAK STREET: Prehistoric Peril

August 21, 2026

It was 1982. The Platts are a typical middle-class American family who lived on Oak Street, in the suburban Flowervale, Michigan. Greg Platt (Ewan McGregor) was in between jobs, making ends meet by delivering pizzas. His marriage with his wife, aspiring novelist Denise (Anne Hathaway), was shaky, with divorce in the conversation. Their two kids, Audrey (Maisie Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), were not oblivious to their troubled situation. 

For the past few nights, there were odd things appearing in backyards of neighbors, like an extinct prehistoric plant or a huge pile of stinky manure.  One stormy night, there was long blinding flash of bright light, then power, phone and water all go out. That morning, their dog Starbuck was missing, so Greg and Denise went to look for him. Instead of the dog, they saw a giant beaked creature which immediately turned to chase them. 

In the opening scenes, we get our first glimpse of Oak Street during a fun neighborhood activity.  We see Brian out biking on the streets with his three pals, and we feel like we are inside a Steven Spielberg film. I felt like I was watching a scene from "ET: The Extra-Terrestrial," which incidentally was released in 1982, the time setting of this sci-fi thriller. However, it would later turn out that this would not be the only Spielberg film referenced.

When there were big flashes of light in the night sky, we were reminded of the way the aliens were gradually revealed in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977), However, this time around, there were dinosaurs instead of aliens, which of course called to mind "Jurassic Park" (1993). There had apparently been a wormhole in time that their whole community was transported to prehistoric time when dinosaurs still ruled the world.

Any actor could've played Greg and Denise, but having McGregor and Hathaway there did give it some additional charm, especially to that time travel thing at the end. All the characters are aware that they need to be alert and resourceful to survive the prehistoric peril around them, yet they still had the time or temerity to argue about their domestic or school issues, which were so petty now considering what they're up against. These confrontation scenes under threat of carnivorous dinosaur attacks were corny and frankly, unnecessary melodrama. 6/10 

Review of DEAR YOU: The Depth of Devotional Diligence

August 18, 2026

The happy married life of Den Bhagseng (Wang Yantong) and his wife Sogriu (Wang Xiaohui) was interrupted in the late 1940s when he was drafted for military service in the Civil War. He fled to the Nanyang area, first to Malaysia, then to Thailand. This left Sogriu alone to raise their three young children by herself. However every month in his absence, Bhagseng dutifully sent qiaopi or remittance letters with cash to Sogriu to support her and his kids.

Their exchange of letters stopped in 1978 when Sogriu believed Bhagseng already had a second family. In the present time, Hiou-ui (Zheng Runqi), who was then deep in debt, thought of going to Thailand to seek help from his grandfather Bhagseng, rumored to be very wealthy now. He found the letters kept by his 88 year old grandmother Sogriu (Wu Shaoqing) to get his address. When he got there, he was told that Bhagseng had been dead since 1960.

The drama of this film was built around the qiaopi -- letters with money sent by Teochew immigrants in Southeast Asian countries back to their families in China. Sogriu had consistently receiving qiaopi from Bhagseng, all the way up to 1978. The main narrative was actually based on drafts of a lost letter, told from the point of view of the woman whom Sogriu believed was her husband's mistress -- Zia Lamgi (Li Sitong).

This independent film was produced on a small budget with a cast of mostly non-professional actors. However, despite beginning at a low rank in the box office upon its opening, it slowly gained more traction in the coming weeks with excellent word of mouth on Chinese social media, eventually reaching the #1 slot a month after its release. Its viral appeal then crossed overseas, making it a big hit as well in the Southeast Asian market.

The language used was Teochew, so we really had to rely on the English subtitles to understand what was going on, although the occasional lines that sound like Hokkien were welcome to hear. I admit the first few modern day scenes were not easy to get into right away. However, once we got our bearings straight with the multiple characters and timelines, we were riveted with the irresistible charm and emotional depth of the multi-layered story. 

While mostly sentimental melodrama, there were scenes of humor, suspense, as well as a mystery behind an old photograph that caused a 40-year-long misunderstanding. We will be attached to the characters -- Bhagseng, Lamgi, Lamgi's father (Fang Peisong), the Chinese teacher Digang (Chen Qinqin) -- and care what happens to them. This film by Lan Hongchun was a nostalgic look back at the lives of early Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia, and should be of special interest to our local Chinoy community.  8/10

Cinemalaya 2026: Review of 2 VALID IDS: Bureaucratic Bull

August 17, 2026

Ramon Ramos (Joey Marquez) had been transferred from his hometown in the Ilocos to a hospital for better treatment of his severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  His wife Sylvia (Marietta Subong) watched over him and took care of things that he needed. They had befriended Denver (Zaijian Jaranilla), young watcher of the old man lying in the bed beside them, to help watch Ramon when Sylvia had to go out on errands.

Ramon's aunt working in New Zealand agreed to send them money so they can transfer to semi-private and finally schedule the bullectomy surgery that he needed. However, when Sylvia went to the remittance center, the clerk there required her to show two valid IDs before the money could be released. With the help of her niece Mercy (Meryll Soriano), Sylvia had to go to great effort and expense in order to fulfill this cumbersome requirement. 

Comedian Pokwang used her real name Marietta Subong here, so we know she is in serious mode, giving a sincere, no-frills performance that was truly moving. She just quietly endured the indignities thrown in her way, until all her pent-up frustrations simply can't be held back no longer. Joey Marquez turned in an exceptional dramatic performance here. He and Subong had excellent chemistry together, so we root for them to pull through against all odds.

All the screenings of this film in all participating theaters were sold out from the very first day -- making this an automatic box office hit and audience choice from the get-go. This is not surprising because the film tackles needless bureaucracy -- a problem that every Filipino went through in order to apply for an ID card valid to establish one's identity. To make it even more difficult, you need have two valid IDs, as one ID is usually not enough. 

The screenplay of Abet Pagdagdagan Raz was frank, direct, straightforward, without resorting to satire or metaphors, as is where is. As much as Sylvia wanted to do things completely on the level, the processes were taking so much time, such that it would tempt her to resort to under-the-table means just so the necessary surgery could finally be done. Director Ma-an L. Asuncion-Dagñalan made sure we felt Sylvia's desperation as that noose tightened. 8/10  

Netflix: Review of GANITO, GANYAN, GANOON: Depths of Dysfunction

August 16, 2026

Joanne "Jo" (Jodi Sta. Maria) was a successful writer for a top-rating soap opera and was extremely busy and stressed out. One day, she received a phone call from her Nanay Des (Ruby Ruiz) from their provincial hometown that her mother Paz (Agot Isidro), who had abandoned Jo 27 years ago, was suddenly back from New York City. She brought with her a young man she introduced as her son, Matti (Gabriel Lazaro). 

Paz, a former actress, was a high-strung, and unapologetic loudmouth. Even for the slightest of provocations, be it out of mean-spirited sarcasm or even out of what seemed to be concern, she would blow up into foul-mouthed ejaculations and lengthy motor-mouth tirades, which left everyone around her shocked and uncomfortable. She was specially tough on Matti whose mental and emotional issues made him do and say the most unexpected things. 

Because of Paz's psychiatric and medical concerns, Agot Isidro certainly had the showier role of the whole cast. We just saw a somewhat milder version of this mother character in her recent Cinemalaya film "Mag-iina" (2026). Her shrill, twangy voice in this one was definitely several notches more irritating to the ear. She was also unpredictably rude and hurtful, but it was to Isidro's credit that audiences can still care no matter how unpleasant Paz got.    

Jo mostly kept her turmoil inside, so Jodi Sta. Maria wisely underplayed her part -- the quiet calm in contrast with Paz's loud hysteria. Her first conflict here was her acceptance to an American writing fellowship which may just fall through the cracks because of her mother's unexpected visit.  However, Jo had a much deeper reason to hate her mother, an internal wound that festered for 27 years that just got riled up to become unbearably painful again. 

Given Matti's impaired mental, social and emotional issues, neophyte actor Gabriel Lazaro (a son of character actor Ronnie Lazaro) was certainly given a very challenging role to portray for his acting debut. In view of the veteran stars acting circles around him, his inexperience was still quite evident. Matti was supposed to act awkwardly, but Lazaro was obviously trying to act his part. His effort was appreciated, but there is still room for improvement. 

Gardo Versoza played Jo's father Rene, while Ruby Ruiz played Jo's former nanny Des. The rest of the family were gathered together at a welcome dinner. Mitch Valdez played Paz's colorful Tita Abby, while Joel Saracho played her uncle Tito. Floyd Tena played Paz's film director brother Pipo, while Angel Aquino played her actress cousin Stella. RK Bagatsing played Jo's psychiatrist and lover Doc Migs, who paid Jo a surprise visit that same day. 

Cholo Laurel's feature directorial debut was way back in 2005 with the multi-awarded "Nasaan Ka Man." "Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon" is only his second feature film as director. The buildup to Paz's big reveal was already very well-done, but Laurel just had to insert a candle-lit bull session to reopen wounds all over again. This film and its actors were good, but I wish we'd have less dramas that resort to illness as an intervening factor. 7/10

 

Cinemalaya 2026: Review of TAYO LANG ANG NAKAKAALAM: Shielding Sensitive Secrets

August 14, 2026

Neil (Martin del Rosario) worked in the HR department of a firm. One of the candidates he interviewed was one Robin "Bong" Macaraeg (Miguel Odron). Fast forward five years later in 2012, Bong was very sick, confined in the hospital with a bad case of amebiasis which the usual antibiotics are failing to control. As Neil's boyfriend now, Neil watched over Bong, along with Bong's parents Gloria (Yayo Aguila) and Benjie (Epy Quizon).

This film opened with Gloria and Neil sitting closely together talking and laughing, with Neil calling Gloria "inay." However, when the patient Bong called for Neil, it turned out that Gloria's son was actually Bong, and Neil was Bong's boyfriend of five years, whom Gloria had accepted as her own over the years. With this simple opening scene, Corpuz made sure we understood right off that Gloria practically considered Neil to be a real son. 

Yayo Aguila had played mom for practically all the millennial and Gen Z actors and actresses in Filipino films, indie or mainstream, in the last ten years or so. Most of the time though, these were forgettable roles with only one or two scenes. As Gloria here, Aguila was finally able to play a fully-fleshed out character, both body and soul. When she learned that her boys had withheld a secret from her, we feel and understand her confusion, disappointment, frustration.  

Now 20 years into his career, Martin del Rosario has proven that he is one of this generation's hardest-working and most versatile actors. Neil was the one who had more to risk, as an HR in a relationship with a junior employee. He had to keep major secrets, not only from his boss sir Deej (Bong Cabrera), but also from Gloria whom he considered his second mother. Del Rosario's Neil kept his conflicts mostly inside, an impressive display of restrained acting. 

I had seen Miguel Odron before in "Some Nights I Feel Like Walking" (2025), where he played a newbie gigolo Zion. Odron's Bong here was a young man stricken with a difficult ailment at the prime of his life. As he felt his life gradually spiral out of his control, he still fought to maintain his dignity and have his say. It was too bad that aside from his interview and a quick montage of happy moments, we did not get to know Bong in the pink of his health.

Epy Quizon's Benjie left his family to work abroad when Bong was only five years old. From then on, he would only see his family for short leaves every two years, unable to form closer bonds with his son. He was only back home in time to take care of Bong because he lost his job. Despite all the years he devoted to being an OFW, the family was still financially strapped with no savings, still living in a cramped apartment in a building without an elevator.  

Madeleine Nicolas only had a few scenes as Neil's mother Lily, but she evoked a clear sense of empathy for the tough situation her son was in. Their closeness as mother and son was felt in their few scenes together, especially in that one scene of humorous relief. Bodjie Pascua even had lesser screen time as Bong's uncle, Benjie's elder brother Fr. Emil, but he still made a marked impression in that scene imparting priestly words of wisdom to Neil. 

"Tayo Lang ang Nakakaalam" was directed and co-written (with Iar Arondaing) by David R. Corpuz. He had only directed three films so far, all of them for Cinemalaya -- Jury Prize-winning short "The Ordinary Things We Do" (2014) and full-length feature "Kusina" (2016). In this latest one, he was able to assemble a powerful ensemble piece about a family in deep turmoil that can emotionally connect with any audience, LGBT or not. 7/10