Author: Wanggo Gallaga

MOVIE REVIEW: Return to Silent Hill

I’ve never actually played the video game Silent Hill, though I did watch my cousin play the very first game on her PlayStation. That game scared me half to death, and I was just watching it. It helped me better understand the film adaptation Silent Hill back in 2006, starring Radha Mitchell and Sean Bean and directed by Christophe Gans. I remember liking it. I remember being scared, and I do remember talking about how much I enjoyed the experience with my friend.

So, I was a little excited to see Return to Silent Hill, since it is also directed by Christophe Gans and co-written by Gans, Sandra Vo-Anh, and Will Schneider. Based on the Konami game Silent Hill 2, Gans delivers breathtaking imagery and immerses us into a post-apocalyptic hellscape. Unfortunately, its weak story and character development, as well as its continuously jumping narrative between the present day and flashbacks holds back what could have been a genuinely scary movie.

Return to Silent Hill follows the story of James (Jeremy Irvine), who meets Mary (Hannah Emily Anderson) after he accidentally runs over her bag at a highway bus stop. She misses her bus, but the two manage to see a spark that prompts James to walk Mary back to the picturesque town of Silent Hill.

Image Source: 888 Films International FB Page

The film then jumps a year later and James is now an alcoholic living in the city, who has dreams of Mary. He’s causing trouble at a bar, and his therapist (Nicola Alexis) keeps calling him to make sure he shows up for his visit as he is spiraling. But as he gets home, he finds a letter from Mary asking him to return to Silent Hill.

When he returns, he finds the town covered in ash. It’s worse than a ghost town. And when a siren wails, the world transforms into a dark, brimstone world where creatures roam freely. As James wanders the empty streets (and sometimes monster-ridden) looking for Mary, the film shifts to the past to reveal why he left her in the first place.

From the get-go, the film quickly assumes we believe in the love story of James and Mary, which is the crux of the film’s emotional core. But since the love story is revealed through flashbacks as the story unfolds, we really question the characters’ motivations and really wonder whether James really can’t let go of Mary. It doesn’t help that many of the flashbacks show the two in love – constantly kissing and embracing – but doesn’t delve into why they’re in love. It’s a love story for the sake of the plot.

Irvine and Anderson don’t have the kind of chemistry that tells its own story, so without the narrative beats of a true love story, the film feels very forced. It doesn’t help that the film takes a lot of short cuts to explain things that are happening – people suddenly appearing to serve as exposition and then quickly discarded – and then after everything has been said, the world building of how Silent Hill came to be this way was still left vague and obtuse, and not in a good way.

What the film manages to deliver, though, is gorgeous imagery. The set pieces of James walking through the empty, ash-covered town are just simply gorgeous to look at. Gans and cinematographer Pablo Rosso play with the angles so that the camera swivels up into the air to give us top shots or comes really close to give us an over-the-shoulder shot, which feels reminiscent to many video games. It also creates a tension because we know we are watching a horror film, and the long shots set up the fear that creatures will be rushing forth, or worse, in the tight shots from James’ point-of-view, when he turns a corner, will we see a creature there? This creates real dread so that three or four major jump scares feel unnecessary.

But the creature designs are also breathtaking, and the way Gans features them is quite impressive. From a bit of reading online, it seems that Gans had permission to redesign the creatures and Patrick Tatopoulos, who is credited as Creature Designer, did an amazing job with some of the monsters, most especially the Moth Lady and the Red Pyramid (who apparently is taken from the game).

It’s such a shame because the film had all the elements to deliver a good scary movie, but because I couldn’t get hooked into the characters, I couldn’t feel scared. I’m still amazed by the visuals and the direction, though it felt like it belong in a different movie.

My Rating: 2.5 Stars

Step back into the haunting world of Silent Hill with Return to Silent Hill. Check showtimes near you and experience the terror on the big screen.

January 27, 2026
MOVIE REVIEW: Primate

As a creature feature, Primate gets a lot of things right by simplifying the story and putting the horror at the center. Director Johannes Roberts and screenwriter Ernest Riera, alongside Roberts, removes all the unnecessary story and puts the focus on serving some delicious scares. It’s a tight film at 89 minutes, quickly going over the exposition so the thrills can start as soon as possible. The film works because of this narrative economy and it amps up the joy of screaming your guts out at every turn.

Primate follows Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah), who returns home to Hawaii during a college break with her good friend Kate (Victoria Wyant) and Kate’s friend Hannah (Jessica Alexander). Lucy hasn’t gone home in a while because of her dad, Adam (Troy Kotsur), a popular deaf author who is rarely home. Lucy’s absence is felt strongly by her sister, Erin (Gia Hunter).

Victoria Wyant as “Kate”, Troy Kotsur as “Adam”, and Gia Hunter as “Erin” in Primate from Paramount Pictures.

To Hannah’s surprise, she discovers that Lucy’s family has adopted a chimpanzee, Ben, who has been taught sign language and can “speak” through an ipad. There are variables involved like Kate’s brother Nick (Benjamin Cheng), who is Lucy’s crush, and two guys they meet on the plane, whom they might invite over to party with them as Lucy’s dad leaves – yet again – for another book event.

Benjamin Cheng as “Nick”, Victoria Wyant as “Kate”, Jessica Alexander as “Hannah”, Johnny Sequoyah as “Lucy”, and Miguel Torres Umba as “Ben” in Primate from Paramount Pictures.

All of this unfolds quickly, with the friends all partying while Lucy’s dad is away, completely unaware that Ben has been bitten and contracted rabies. When Ben goes feral and starts attacking, the teens are stranded in the pool – because Ben can’t swim and most likely afraid of water – away from their phones, while a rabid, intelligent chimpanzee lurks, just waiting to tear them apart.

Victoria Wyant as “Kate”, Jessica Alexander as “Hannah”, Gia Hunter as “Erin”, and Johnny Sequoyah as “Lucy” in Primate from Paramount Pictures.

Roberts and Riera do a clean job of showing us the size and scale of the house, which becomes a death trap for these teens. The characters are typical but not annoying, and their reactions to the situation are apropos to the dangers they are in.

Victoria Wyant as “Kate” and Johnny Sequoyah as “Lucy” in Primate from Paramount Pictures.

So you might not like the characters for whatever reason, but you can’t help empathizing with them because it is such a horrible situation to find yourself in.

Director Johannes Roberts in Primate from Paramount Pictures.

Roberts has a natural feel for this kind of horror – making use of darkness, tight shots, the absence of music, and the idea that a chimpanzee is extremely mobile and strong – that makes every scene a tension-filled exercise in pure horror.

Victoria Wyant as “Kate” and Johnny Sequoyah as “Lucy” in Primate from Paramount Pictures.

And the horror is gruesome. It is bloody and brutal. When I watched, women were screaming and men were too, though they were also cheering when heads were bashed and skin torn from the flesh.

Miguel Torres Umba as “Ben” in Primate from Paramount Pictures.

This is a film that pulls no punches. It’s as edgy as a horror film should be and because the film never weighed itself down with unnecessary plot points – the family drama is never overplayed, the slight romance angle between Lucy and Nick is quickly shut down before the film’s inciting incident – the only thing we have to focus on is whether these kids will survive.

Miguel Torres Umba as “Ben” and Johnny Sequoyah as “Lucy” in Primate from Paramount Pictures.

The film sort of gives a nod to the classic horror novel (and film) Cujo by Stephen King with the film adaptation directed by Lewis Teague. But Primate comes off equally scary – if not scarier – because the chimpanzee is smart and strong and fast, while Cujo is only really two of the three.

Johnny Sequoyah as “Lucy” and Director Johannes Roberts in Primate from Paramount Pictures.

At the same time, there is a faint recognition of family as Ben grew up with Lucy, so much so that even Kate and Nick know quite a lot about him. While Lucy and the rest are not keen to go easy on the ape, that adds an extra tinge of pain running through the story. It almost feels like betrayal.

Jessica Alexander as “Hannah” and Miguel Torres Umba as “Ben” in Primate from Paramount Pictures.

I could go on about how the film seems to mock humans trying to upset the natural order—teaching an animal human language and treating it as family—but that argument doesn’t fully hold up. Chimps are intelligent, can be trained to communicate, and we naturally love our pets as part of the family. More importantly, the film isn’t trying to make a deeper point; it’s focused on delivering some genuinely thrilling scares. And in that, it succeeds spectacularly. Primate is a ton of fun and probably best experienced in the cinema with friends.

My Rating: 4 Stars

Primate delivers heart-pounding scares, a smart and terrifying chimpanzee, and pure adrenaline. Check showtimes near you and scream along with your friends in theaters now!

January 23, 2026
MOVIE REVIEW: The History of Sound

Propelled only by a strong performance by Josh O’Connor, along with stunning cinematography and beautiful music, The History of Sound echoes similar themes to Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, but is told with greater melancholy and restraint, perhaps too much restraint. The film’s languid pace diminishes from its overall power or sense of urgency. It’s predictable and has very little capacity to surprise.

The story follows two young men, Lionel (Paul Mescal) and David (Josh O’Connor), who meet at the New England Conservatory of Music and bond over their shared love of folk music. They enter an unspoken relationship, after all, it is 1917 and Lionel is from the Deep South.

Their relationship is cut short when David is drafted into the war, while Lionel must return home, he wasn’t drafted due to his poor eyesight. They later meet again, with David visibly broken by the war and they go walking across America, recording folk songs that people sing, passed down by generations to create a catalogue of the music of generations.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures PH FB Page

Director Oliver Hermanus and cinematographer Alexander Dynan create beautiful images of rural America – lush vegetation, great forested landscapes, lakes and rivers bursting with life. And these two young men walking through them, not speaking what they feel so openly while making a record of the music that has been passed down through generations so that they don’t get lost as the world changes. It’s quite poetic and lyrical when taken from a macro view of the film.

But at a little over two hours, with the film not fully engaging with the love story or the political commentary that it makes as they make their way through America – racism, homophobia, and more – we don’t really get to see a cohesive narrative that guides us through an emotional journey. Even the horrors of war are merely brushed upon but not really fully explored.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures PH FB Page

Mescal delivers a good performance, capturing the wide-eyed wonder Lionel feels toward David and the work that they are doing together, but is brought down my melancholy once again after the pair separate at the end of their project. The things left unspoken bear a heavy weight on him as he navigates through his life having lost David again. It’s a strong performance but nothing I haven’t seen before from Mescal. There are shades here of After Sun and All of Us Strangers and it’s nothing new.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures PH FB Page

It’s not a surprising performance, which leaves a lot of the heavy lifting on O’Connor, who is dazzling as the complex David. Aside from David’s challenging childhood, he returns after the war wearing a mask that says everything is alright, but he lets us in and makes us see that he’s wearing a mask. It’s solid work from an actor that is consistently surprising us with every major role he plays from Challengers to The Crown to Wake Up Dead Man.

I grew up listening to folk music through my dad, so on one level, I enjoyed watching the two crosses through the land to find these gorgeous songs. They are sung by various people and these scenes are exquisite. It tells a story of America, of how all of their culture is just passed down along to them from when they first arrived from the shores of Europe.

I felt the film made such a strong case for immigration and holding on to ones culture but none of it being endemic to the country that they were in. One way to look at it is that it is a colonizer’s story, and what makes it worse for me is that it probably was not meant to be that way.

My Rating: 1.5 Stars

Slow, lyrical, and heavy with longing, The History of Sound asks you to lean in and listen closely. Watch it in theaters and decide what lingers long after the final note fades.

January 21, 2026
MOVIE REVIEW: Rental Family

It’s a strange feeling to be watching a film and be so absolutely charmed by it and then as the movie is moving towards its third act, your feelings take a full 180-degree turn and it undermines all the great things you felt in the film’s first two acts. That sums up my experience watching Hikari’s Rental Family.

It is an exquisitely crafted film – gorgeous direction, cinematography, performances, and even music by Jónsi (of Sigur Rós) and Alex Somers. All the elements work so wonderfully together, and the tone is so well balanced between comedy and a generous heaping of sadness. My issue stems in how the film treats its subject matter and how it shifts into favouring a Western framework while being situated in an Asian country.

Brendan Fraser in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

The issue here is one of political and cultural representation.

‘Rental Family’ is the story of Philip Vanderploeg (Brendan Fraser), an American actor living and working in Japan. Philip has done a Japanese commercial seven years ago and has stayed on ever since doing odd jobs playing a “token white guy” in ads and TV spots. He’s presented as a person who is isolated and alone.

Brendan Fraser in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Philip then comes across a company that reenacts realistic fantasies – actors portraying a client’s family, boss, or even the guest at a wake, and other such scenarios – for a decent fee. He is hired to play a token white man, but often with a deeper connection to the client. He gets hired by a woman to play a journalist who is interviewing her father, who is an aging actor played by Akiro Emoto. He’s also hired to be buddies with a Japanese guy who likes to play video games. In another case, a young woman asks him to pose as her Canadian groom so she can give her parents the wedding they want for her and finally be free.

Misato Morita and Brendan Fraser in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Naturally, Philip has a hard time with this. His boss, Shinji (Takehiro Hira), along with co-workers Aiko (Mari Yamamoto) and Kota (Kimura Bun), try to explain to him that what they are doing is capturing emotions and feelings; it isn’t exactly a lie, and that it’s something he may never fully understand as an American.

Brendan Fraser and Shannon Gorman in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

The most precarious of roles Philip has to play is that of the estranged father of a young half-Japanese girl, Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman). Her mother, Hitomi (Shino Shinozaki), is applying at a prestigious school for Mia, and having both parents involved would help the application process a lot. But Hitomi doesn’t want Mia to know that Philip is an actor, so he has to fully commit to the role and truly pretend.

Shannon Gorman and Brendan Fraser in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

At a certain point, Philip begins to find his way, forging real connections with his regular clients, but most especially with Mia, who becomes a way for him to reconnect with his own estranged father. Things get complicated midway through, as Philip cannot help but invest himself fully in these relationships and pushes the boundaries of what is permissible and what is not in his job.

Brendan Fraser and Akira Emoto in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Hikari’s style is visually stunning and manages to visually capture the interconnectedness of Asian societies; and somehow isolate Philip from all of this, being an outsider. Fraser is magnificent, really embodying the everyman and then showing us how he transforms for every client. He is a very solid actor, anchoring the piece around his character. He is never flashy or overdoing it. Everything is just right. All the Japanese actors are equally fantastic, with Akira Emoto and Mari Yamamoto standing out in their roles.

Mari Yamamoto and Brendan Fraser in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Throughout the film, though, we see the importance and value of human connection; how these feelings hold weight and are even worth being paid for. It reminds me of the social media reels about certain Asian countries offering “rent-a-boyfriend for a day” services (for non-sexual dates and companionship). Apparently, it really is a thing. And at the start the film shows how important the social fabric is to Asian culture.

Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, and Bun Kimura in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

But halfway through the film, as Philip begins to get himself completely involved, he questions the company and what they are doing and goes beyond what is allowed by their rules of engagement. At this point, the film takes on an almost white saviour tone, suggesting that it is Philip who puts all these Japanese characters “in their place,” and because that things change because of him. This bothered me so much. I was absolutely charmed by this movie, by the direction, the performances, the cinematography, and the music, but when the white saviour moment happens, my experience with the film changed completely.

Brendan Fraser in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Instead of a story about a white man learning something new while living in Asia, it’s the Asian characters who learn something from the white man and this really didn’t sit well with me.

By all means, the film is well made, but I immediately understood that this movie was made for Western audiences. It was not fair in how it structured the narrative to pass judgement on the Japanese characters and position the white man as the hero of this story. It’s so beautifully made but I felt it was not made for me. It’s a story that amplifies American superiority and comes across as inauthentic and untrue when you consider the real-world conditions that we live now.

My Rating: 2.5 Stars

Rental Family opens in theaters today! Don’t miss Brendan Fraser navigating complex roles, Hikari’s stunning visuals, and a story that charms, challenges, and provokes. Check showtimes near you and experience it on the big screen.

January 21, 2026
MOVIE REVIEW: The Housemaid

I knew nothing about The Housemaid before going in, aside from having seen bits of the trailer. I had no idea it was based on a popular book series by Freida McFadden, and I thought I had the whole movie pegged from the get-go. It didn’t help that Sydney Sweeney has received quite a lot of flak for her other activities outside of acting, so I was went in with very little expectations.

A sexy thriller about a housemaid entering a wealthy home filled with dark secrets. This is nothing new, really, but director Paul Feig and screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine have a lot of fun with the material and the premise, and a seriously arresting performance by Amanda Seyfried makes The Housemaid an enjoyable watch.

Amanda Seyfried as Nina Winchester in The Housemaid. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate

Sydney Sweeney plays Millie, a woman with a troubled past who takes a job as a stay-in housemaid for the very wealthy Winchester family. She meets Nina (Amanda Seyfried), who is all bubbly and cheerful and seems like a joy to work for. Once she gets the job, she meets Nina’s husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and their daughter CeCe (Indiana Elle).

Amanda Seyfried as Nina and Sydney Sweeney as Millie in The Housemaid. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate

Andrew is a mountain of a man; he’s handsome and charming while Cece is aloof and standoffish. Things soon turn sideways when Nina begins exhibiting sudden outbursts, blaming Millie for things she didn’t do or gaslighting her outright. Millie’s past creates the need to keep the job and, of course, Andrew comes to her rescue. We can all guess where this is going.

Brandon Sklenar as Andrew Winchester in The Housemaid. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate

And it does go there but then it also has more twists and turns. Some you already suspect, others not quite so. But Feig and Sonnenshine do a fantastic job of keeping the tension high, slowly building it up and raising the stakes more and more until all hell breaks loose.

Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in The Housemaid. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate

Sweeney’s doe-eyed looks work well for her role as Millie. When Nina starts to break down Millie with each passing day, Sweeney really embodies Millie’s victimization. You can’t help but feel sorry for her, being trapped between a rock and a very hard place. Andrew stepping in to Millie’s defense adds even more tension rather than a feeling of safety because you know it will further amplify Nina’s erratic behaviour and trigger her psychotic episodes. The film is very good at keeping you on your toes, with a few well-placed jump scares thrown in to add to the fun.

While Sweeney and Sklenar bring in the chemistry, heat things up with some very intense sex scenes, and deliver solid performances that fit right in with the film’s tone, it is Seyfried who elevates The Housemaid into a real horrorfest. She plays Nina’s duality down to a tee; sweet and warm when she’s lucid, then downright unhinged and, completely uninhibited when she’s at the opposite pole. It’s a really fun performance that really makes the film.

Sydney Sweeney as Millie and Amanda Seyfried as Nina in The Housemaid. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate

What could have been just a run-of-the-mill sexy thriller takes a twist and a turn and ends up touching on some feminist issues that subtly finds its way into the film’s third act. Less than a film that tackles social class disparity – issues about rich and poor – but more about women, and some of the things they face on a daily basis. It wraps these discussions up in an entertaining thriller that keeps you on your toes and offers up some sexy imagery along with it.

It’s a refreshing change and a breath of fresh air. And I know the book series has two successful follow-ups and the film teases a sequel. But I hope they don’t do it. I feel that it ended just at the right note. Not every story needs a sequel. Sometimes, as with the story we just watched, in this case The Housemaid, serves as a catalyst for our own imagination, letting us do the rest of the work ourselves.

My Rating: 4 Stars

Sydney Sweeney pulls you in, Amanda Seyfried keeps you guessing. Catch The Housemaid on the big screen. Check showtimes near you and experience the tension for yourself.

January 17, 2026
MOVIE REVIEW: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Following directly after the events of 28 Years Later, the sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, pretty much pulls back from the infected to the crazy people who have been forced to survive in a ravaged world. Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) shows a wide range of emotions as he makes contact with the Alpha (Chi Lewis-Parry). Through Kelson and Alpha’s interactions, we find vestiges of hope.

Meanwhile, Spike (Alfie Williams) has now joined the brutal group called The Fingers, led by Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). Spike’s storyline is where all the brutality and gore kicks in, as Jimmy and his gang (each member also named Jimmy), raid the surrounding camps, killing the infected with ease and torturing anyone who gets in their way.

Alex Garland’s screenplay with direction by Nia DaCosta, borrows themes from the first film, 28 Days Later, to explore the dark soul of human nature when faced with an apocalyptic situation. Jimmy Crystal’s gang eat up every word of his dark gospel, claiming that the infected are creatures of Satan and that Jimmy himself is the son of all that is evil. All of Spike’s innocence and warmth is slowly dwindling under such gruesome company.

The film highlights human nature’s tendency to rule with might once all agents of order have ceased to exert their influence. There’s an allegory here that harkens to current world events, though I may be overreaching.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple | Photo & Video Credit: Columbia Pictures

On the other hand, Kelson’s attempts to connect and communicate with Alpha brings the franchise into a whole new chapter, echoing the messages of hope of the second film, 28 Weeks Later. This half of the film is filled with tenderness and, surprisingly, moment of great humor. The dread and fear is always hang over these scenes, but Fiennes infuses Dr. Kelson with such quiet power that we trust that he can find a way to calm the rage virus.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple | Photo & Video Credit: Columbia Pictures

What is incredible about this movie (and the franchise as a whole) is how it keeps us guessing. I really enjoyed 28 Years Later for its sense of duality (as I mentioned in my review), and while this film also shares that same dual tone, its messaging is very different.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple | Photo & Video Credit: Columbia Pictures

While 28 Years Later is about the role of parents during times of crisis, and how the youth must come of age too early during periods of stress and constant danger, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple dissects the duality of human nature. One path is set to destroy, remake the world in the image that they think the world has become; whereas the other clings to the things that make us human – knowledge, science, medicine, culture – and uses empathy to try and fix what is broken.

Everyone is pushing out strong performances, left and right. Erin Kellyman, one of the Jimmys who begins to question the veracity of Jimmy Crystal’s claims of being the son of Satan, is an arresting actress. Acting through the outrageous wig and the bursts of violence, she creates an almost safe space for Spike to remember what it means to be human. But make no mistake, she is very dangerous and deeply unpredictable.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple | Photo & Video Credit: Columbia Pictures

O’Connell and Williams also deliver strong performances that heighten the tension in their scenes together, with O’Connell providing both danger and charm. Lewis-Parry is a powerful presence who gets to do a lot more in this installment. But the real MVP of this film is Fiennes. We get to see more of Dr. Kelson and the kind of person that he is and was. He shifts from nurturing to little moments of whimsy that turn Dr. Kelson from an interesting character to an unforgettable one.

A follow-up to this movie is already in the works, but in all honesty, I feel that if the story ended here, it would still work. There’s a sense of finality to it that really highlights the best and worst of human nature. It’s a strong example of the genre and one that wonderfully breaks new ground.

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Thrills, terror, and a standout performance by Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Kelson await in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Feel the fear, witness the gore, and catch the rare flashes of humanity. Check showtimes near you and see it on the big screen now.

January 15, 2026
MMFF 2025 Review: Call Me Mother

Vice Ganda is a consummate performer and entertainer, and extends his range with equally proficient writer and director Jun Lana in Call Me Mother. The pair already struck gold at last year’s MMFF with And the Breadwinner Is…, but this time, they take it down the comedy a notch to push Vice Ganda’s dramatic range. There are still moments of pure comedy, some skits that are organically woven into the story but because they are infrequent, the humor is amplified and becomes even funnier when placed in-between serious scenes that really emphasize the film’s theme.

Call Me Mother follows the story of Twinkle (Vice Ganda), a top pageant coach who gives up her career to raise her mother’s ward. The young boy, Angelo (Lucas Andalio), grows up in Twinkle’s chaotic but loving family, feeling nurtured and loved on all fronts. When Twinkle receives a job offer to work at Disneyland Hong Kong with the arrangement that she can bring Angelo with her, she decides to finally formalize his adoption. But hits a complication with Angelo’s biological mother, Mara de Jesus (Nadine Lustre).

Vice Ganda and Nadine Lustre in Call Me Mother | Image Source: ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc. (Star Cinema) FB

Mara is a former beauty queen and one of Twinkle’s former trainees. In exchange for the signature to speed up the adoption process, Mara negotiates for Twinkle to train her, as she wants to make another attempt at the crown; the one she lost when she fainted during the question-and-answer portion due to her pregnancy. As these stories often go, Mara meets Angelo, and something within her stirs.

Nadine Lustre as Mara in Call Me Mother | Image Source: ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc. (Star Cinema) FB

While the whole premise of Call Me Mother has all the trappings of a standard Filipino melodrama, Lana and his co-writers, Daisy G. Cayanan and Daniel S. Saniana allow surprising plot shifts that keep the film feeling different and fresh. Instead of going for the easy drama, the film takes its time to allow Mara to grasp what it is that she’s lost for having given up her baby ten years ago, and also highlights Twinkle’s sacrifices, hard work in raising Angelo, and how much she loves this boy.

Lucas Andalio as Angelo in Call Me Mother | Image Source: ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc. (Star Cinema) FB

Lana takes a more low-key approach to his direction, allowing the interactions between Twinkle and Angelo to really rise to the forefront, cementing the stakes of the film. He only becomes formalistic when the film shifts into its comedic gags, where all the punchlines really land. Often, these gags take the form of Twinkle’s rampant imagination, as she envisions the worst while Mara starts to get closer to the child she gave birth to.

Vice Ganda as Twinkle in Call Me Mother | Image Source: ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc. (Star Cinema) FB

It’s the restraint that really makes Call Me Mother stand out from what we’ve come to expect from a Vice Ganda film. We know they could have gone all out, but instead, it builds and builds upon the narrative so that it can explode into a confrontation scene in the latter half of the film, one that arrives unexpectedly – and is handled with such brutality – and another that we did come to expect and is executed spectacularly: the one between Twinkle and Mara, when all bets are off. Here, Vice Ganda is a firestorm of emotion, full of rage and righteous indignation. Lustre proves to be a generous co-actor, allowing Vice Ganda to own the scene and it’s probably what earned Vice the Best Actor award; as well as balancing the film’s comedic and dramatic shifts.

The film raises some very strong discussion points about the true value and weight of motherhood and opts for a safer, cleaner ending but one that holds true to our culture. Undeniably, it also takes a stand for all the queer people who have adopted children and shows that they have every right to be called a parent.

My Rating: 4 Stars

See why Call Me Mother is more than just a comedy, catch it in theaters now and witness a Vice Ganda performance that’s equal parts hilarious and deeply moving.

January 12, 2026
MMFF 2025 Review: I’mPerfect

After watching I’mPerfect, I realised I knew very little about people with Down syndrome. Over the course of the film’s 131-minute running time, I was thrust into a world that really made me face my ignorance and broadened my understanding of their condition. At first, my biggest worry was whether the film would exploit their disability for drama, but I’m happy to have seen these characters portrayed not only with agency, but also shown in the most human way possible. The film explores their wants and needs and presents them as equal as those who do not share the same condition.

The story follows two people living with Down Syndrome, Jessica (Krystel Go) and Jiro (Earl Amaba). The two meet at school and fall in love almost instantly. Jessica lives with her single mother, Norma (Sylvia Sanchez) and her absentee father (Joey Marquez) suddenly return to their lives, regretting his decision to leave them when Jessica was born.

Jiro comes from an affluent family of doctors. His mother, Lizel (Lorna Tolentino), is overprotective and clings to him tightly, while his father (Tonton Gutierrez) is way more lax. Jiro is also close to his younger brother, Ryan (Zaijan Jaranilla). When both mothers dismiss the relationship blossoming between their children, Jessica and Jiro decide to elope and run away to the province to prove that they are adults (which they are) and capable of being independent.

I’mPerfect, directed and written by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, takes care to really show Jessica, Jiro, and all their friends as lively and vibrant people. They go through the familiar narrative beats of any romantic comedy, only punctuated by their particular speech patterns and movements.

At first, it feels almost comical until you realise that what’s filtering it is our own blind spots. We are so used to abled-bodied people in this genre that seeing others go through the exact same things we do can feel alien and strange.

By the time Jessica and Jiro make it to their school dance, and Bernardo gives them a lovely sequence where everyone is dancing, happy and free, do we start to realise our own biases.

Bernardo also takes special care to really emphasize the dynamics of each relationship – Jiro with his family and Jessica with hers – and we really see that despite their disability, they are grown adults (Jessica is 28 and Jiro is turning 30) and they stand firm in the decisions they are making about their lives.

In some ways, the way Jessica and Jiro stand up to their parents becomes symbolic of how people with Down syndrome are asking from us to treat them the way they want to be treated. The film manages to make us face our own misconceptions about people with this condition and see them for who they truly are.

I can say this safely because these are the feelings that hit me as I was watching the film, and it was the same things the people in the row behind me, who could not help themselves but speak out loud about their own realisations. By the end of the movie, we were all rooting for Jessica and Jiro’s independence.

This film is revelatory in that way, using the genre to fully maximize film’s ability to broaden the audience’s world and to represent a sector of society that is voiceless in our society and culture. It made us laugh and cry, and, more importantly, it allowed us to see without the filter of our preconceived notions. In that sense, the film is truly successful.

There are times when the film slips to scenes that feel pedagogical, with the able-bodied characters talking about their feelings in a very literal manner. It’s inelegant and a bit inorganic in the way it was written but I understand the need for it. But it is in these moments that the film works its transformational magic on the audience. While it is not as cinematic as I might hope, but it does what it sets out to do.

The performances here are very strong. Sylvia Sanchez and Janice De Belen, who plays Jiro’s former nanny, are so in the pocket with the film’s world that their portrayals allow Go and Amaba to truly shine, and playing off the more experienced actors. The scenes between Ryan and Jiro are also particularly strong, showcasing the wonderful chemistry between Amaba and Jaranilla.

I’mPerfect can get pedantic at some points, but the power of film lies in how it amplifies the voices of people who are never really properly represented in film or in society. It does a powerful job of showing their humanity in the most familiar ways.

My Rating: 3 Stars

Experience the heart, humor, and humanity of I’mPerfect. Check showtimes now and see this uplifting story on the big screen.

January 2, 2026
MMFF 2025 Review: Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins

The Shake, Rattle & Roll has become a sort of MMFF tradition – the staple horror film of the season – and it makes its return to the festival with its 17th installment Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins. As per usual, the film is divided into three shorter films, an anthology of horror films, usually by three different filmmakers (some earlier installments were directed by only one or a pair of filmmakers). But this time, there’s a twist. For the first time ever, the three stories are sort of interconnected; telling stories from three different timelines but with a narrative link.

The first film, set in 1775, is set in a cloister, where a mysterious crate arrives and holds a dark evil within. If the darkness within isn’t terrible enough, the nuns have their own issues to deal with, including the harsh, rigid leadership of Madre Juana (Janice De Belen).

Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins

A lot of the nuns and novitiates have a dark past, and even one is held captive (Carla Abellana) for her prophetic visions. Director Shugo Praico amps up the claustrophobia, keeping the scares in tight spaces and in the darkness of candlelight and lamplights. What makes this segment unwieldy is how the dramatic set-up feels better suited for a full-length.

Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins

The film is probably less than an hour but there are so many characters – played by Loisa Andalio, Ysabel Ortega, Ashley Ortega, Elijah Alejo, Arlene Muhlach, and Ara Mina – and each with their backstory, the film gives us all this narrative material but never really gets to explore these before the evil is released and begins wrecking havoc.

Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins

There are some really frightful scenes and its share of jump scares but the narrative is too bogged down by all its characters. It doesn’t help that the nun’s habit only gives us the faces of the actors that it’s quite difficult to tell them apart in some scenes. The dramatic set-up and each novitiate’s backstory is really something that they could have explored more and could fill up a full 90 minutes.

The second segment, set in 2025, is the strongest of the three and is a lot of fun to watch. Historically, the second segment of ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll’ is usually a comedy horror, and while ‘2025’ does have its share of laughs, it operates more in the realm of the thriller and the slasher film.

Set during a Halloween masquerade ball in the basement of some unidentified structure, teens have to survive when they are attacked by a vicious cult, who need human blood and sacrifices for a demonic ritual. DirectorJoey De Guzman stylizes his scenes for a hypnotic aesthetic amplified by the excellent score by Mikhail Ali Hooshmand but still manages to take the time to really allow us to get to know our protagonists – Faye (Francine Diaz) and Sky (Sassa Gurl) – who are gatecrashing the party so they can steal from the rich kids at the rave.

But Faye catches the eye of Sean (Seth Fedelin), a rich kid with some issues with his father who is a politician. Along with DJ Elle (Fyang Smith) and James (JM Ibarra) and a few others, the survivors of the initial attack must now play a deadly game of hide and seek all over the underground complex to find the elevator to get them out of this death trap.

Joining them is Faye’s parents, Malena (Manilyn Reynes) and Bano (Alex Calleja), who are catering for the party, who have access to the other parts of that complex.

‘2025’ is a fun, slasher film with Diaz and Fedelin showing strong chemistry and handling the genre very well. As actors, they hold your attention and get you to care. Reynes is always a strong actress and elevates the piece by giving Faye and Sky someone to really care for but it’s Sassa Gurl who really stands out and elicits the strongest laughs.

Sassa Gurl’s Sky becomes more than just a comic relief and her interactions with Francine Diaz’s Faye also helps the audience to invest in these characters – which is so important in a slasher film.

The final segment, directed by Ian Lorenos, is set in the future. Entitled ‘2050,’ the film is set in a post-apocalyptic Manila where aswangs have ruled the earth and the remaining humans are in hiding.

Edris (Ivana Alawi) is in search of a woman who may have the key to stopping the aswangs for good and comes across a small community of survivors: Rosdan (Richard Gutierrez), his brother Riel (Dustin Yu), Dong (Matt Lozano), Dong’s younger sister Drea (Celyn David), and Rosdan and Riel’s aunt Malena (Manilyn Reynes).

‘2050’ relies heavily on CGI to reimagine a ruined Manila while the film takes on the action and horror genre. While the film serves well as the finale for this trilogy, this film can also be adapted for a full-length but the screenplay by Noreen Capili and Gina Marissa Tagasa keeps it simple so that it can hold on its own at its shortened length. What burdens the film is that the action sequences can be quite messy and chaotic, that we don’t get to feel the full force of the spills and thrills.

Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins

While Gutierrez is very comfortable in the action genre from his previous work, the others don’t do as well so it sometimes feels that Lorenos is directing around the limited capabilities of some of his cast.

Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins

It could hit harder, could be shot with a little more clarity of the choreography so we can enjoy the full range of action that the film offers. There are enough moments to get the audience to scream but this could have been tighter and more stronger.

Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins

Surprisingly, Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins is a lot more gory and brutal than I remember the franchise to be – probably an influence over our times – but it has the DNA of a proper Pinoy horror flick.

My Rating: 2.5 Stars

Check showtimes now and catch Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins on the big screen. This MMFF horror staple is best experienced where the screams are loudest.

December 29, 2025
MMFF 2025 Review: Bar Boys: After School

There’s something warm and fuzzy about Bar Boys: After School. A direct sequel of director Kip Oebanda’s Bar Boys, which came out in 2017, the film follows the characters from the first movie almost a decade later, as as they face new challenges and witness a whole new batch of law students preparing to take the bar exams. Bar Boys: After School, directed once again by Kip Oebanda and written by Oebanda, Carlo Catu, and Zig Dulay, feels like a tight hug in what some would describe as a really tough year. The movie leans into sentimentality and even being corny at times, but as the film unfolds, I found myself asking, “Why not?”

The movie is meant to inspire, to appeal to the kindness of the Filipino people, and to take lawyers to task in preserving the law and fighting for justice. There’s an ambiguity surrounding the role of lawyers in the first film – a discussion that was made about whether criminals have a right to a strong legal defense – and while it was discussed, was never really given a definitive answer. In the sequel, we see through one of the main characters, Erik Vicencio (Carlo Aquino), that he has taken this to heart and works at a law firm that helps underprivileged people, sometimes accepting crops as payment instead of cash, as that is what his clients can afford.

Bar Boys: After School

Torran Garcia (Rocco Nacino) questions his role as a corporate lawyer, finding more meaning and value in teaching law at a school.

Bar Boys: After School

It’s his story that connects us to the younger cast, which includes Trisha Perez (Sassa Gurl), a trans woman vying to graduate with honors, and Arvin Asuncion (Will Ashley), struggling working part-time to pay for his studies.

All of this unfolds while Justice Hernandez (Odette Khan), the mentor to the four main characters, lies in the hospital with a terminal illness.

Gone are the neutrality and bare-faced facts of the first film (though it had a lot of heart). Now, Bar Boys: After School is presenting to us the ideal. As each character goes through personal challenges – additionally, among the main cast, Christian Carlson (Enzo Pineda) returns home from America as he is coming to terms with the breakup of his marriage, while Joshua Zuniga (Kean Cipriano) is now a has-been actor who is going to law school himself – the film takes the most heartwarming road toward a positive resolution. It doesn’t shy away from the hardship, we get to see it firsthand, but it is always aiming for something that will uplift your spirits.

Bar Boys: After School

I found myself resisting the film at the beginning, but as the film continued, I found myself warming up to the warm embrace of its goodness. For the Christmas season – and for all the tough times that may come in 2026 – this movie feels like the warm hug I mentioned earlier. Oebanda painstakingly creates a fiction that inspires and motivates us to be better. It’s so sincere, and that sincerity, in all honesty, is refreshing. I’m happy for it.

Unfortunately, the film is weighed down by its large cast and the need to give each character a moment and a storyline. The strongest storyline here is that of Erik Vicencio and his battle for justice for some farmers, Toran Garcia and his role as a teacher, and Justice Hernandez and what she means to people. Aligned with this, all of Toran’s students, Trisha and Arvin and CJ (Therese Malvar), help solidify the film’s thematic core. Sadly, the storylines of Christian Carlson and Joshua Zuniga don’t necessarily fit squarely into the film and seem like they are only there for the purpose of continuing the stories of their characters. I honestly wouldn’t have minded if they took more of a supporting role, as the film is strongest when it works with the three storylines of Erik, Toran, and Justice Hernandez.

The whole cast, though, is very strong. There are fantastic performances all around, with Odette Khan and Sassa Gurl standing out with such strong performances, but the ones that stood out most for me are those of Rocco Nacino, Will Ashley, and Sheila Francisco, who plays a lawyer representing the landowners at odds with Erik’s clients. Francisco embodies the antithesis of Justice Hernandez and relishes the role, without ever turning her into a caricature. It’s a role with little screen time but with great impact on the entire film. If the movie is meant to inspire goodness and kindness, Francisco is ably allowing a contrast.

Rocco Nacino is effortless in his portrayal of Toran. He is the moment, in his character’s skin, that everything he says and does feels spontaneous and right in the pocket. He comes off so naturally that it never feels like acting.

Will Ashley, meanwhile, is a powerhouse. He draws you into Arvin Asuncion and makes it real, making his character’s struggles palpable, tangible. There is a scene (as seen in the trailer) where he talks about his hardships that had me completely attentive and I just started crying. He musters a vulnerability that grabs you and, and having seen his other MMFF film Love You So Bad, I can see he has incredible range. He’s going to be a star

Bar Boys: After School is a refreshing, feel-good movie that doesn’t resort to escapism but instead appeals to our best nature, inspiring us to do good and be good. It feels like a film from another time, yet it is so well-suited for the era we’re in. It’s the perfect film for the MMFF.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Catch Bar Boys: After School this MMFF and feel the warmth, inspiration, and heart that only this film can deliver, don’t miss it! Get showtimes here.

December 28, 2025