Author: Wanggo Gallaga

THEATER REVIEW — At a Larger Venue, “Bar Boys: The Musical” Reaches Its Full Potential Through Scale

I’m a fan of “Bar Boys: The Musical,” written by Pat Valera (book and lyrics) and Myke Salomon (lyrics and music), based on the film by Kip Oebanda, and directed by Mikko Angeles, since its two runs at the PowerMac Spotlight Theater in Circuit Makati. It was inspiring, funny, and poignant (I remember crying both times I saw it). The music was great filled with all-new, all-original songs, and the performances were stellar. It was a great show. But now that it has moved to the Hyundai Hall at the Areté Theater, the show has transformed into a big, bold musical where the larger scale amplifies everything that was already great about the production.

In a larger theater, the creative team went all out. The production now features larger set pieces that are wheeled in, a larger video projection on screen right behind the cast as they are performing, more space for its hardworking ensemble to fill, and new heights as the set pieces are as high as two stories allowing the staging to be as tall as its scope is wide.

Bar Boys The Musical | Photo by Kyle Venturillo

Now staged on a proscenium, the direction is now fully directed toward the audience rather than contained at the center, as it was in the original traverse staging (a long platform with the audience on both sides). This shift allows the show to fully project its idealism, realism, and inspirational message straight to the crowd for full effect.

Bar Boys The Musical | Photo by Sace Natividad

“Bar Boys: the Musical” tells the story of four friends – Erik, Chris, Torran, and Josh – who enter law school together with the hopes of changing the world a better place. But each of our leads have their own battles to face. Erik comes from a humble background and money is tight. Chris hides a secret about his background, which also fuels his need to make the world a better place. Torran, raised by a single mother, feels the pressure of living out his mother’s dreams while he is discovering who really is. Josh, who hails from the province, wants to be an environmental lawyer but his idealism gets in the way of the reality of the law.

Bar Boys The Musical

The show is impressive by being intersectional, tackling various issues like the class divide, the power and the abuse of the law, corruption, acceptance, and waking up to a harsh world; all of this without being scattered or confusing. The narrative has a spot for each of the four characters, a case that becomes the catalyst for the growth of some of the protagonists, all the while portraying the exacting demands of law school and passing the bar.

Bar Boys The Musical | Photo by CJ Ochoa

By giving the ensemble moments to portray other law students, we see the various dreams and hopes that people have that widen the scope of the play. There’s something for everyone here, but it never feels like it is only touching the surface. The emotions that it evokes are not from shallow, easy plot points. The struggle is real. There are scenes and songs that emphasize it so when a loss is felt, it hits hard. When a victory is achieved, that feeling reaches out to the audience in full.

Bar Boys The Musical | Photo by CJ Ochoa

With a larger space and the audience gathered in one direction, Angeles is able to create spectacles and meant to be witnessed. The actors can now interact more freely, exchanging knowing looks when making throwing politically charged jokes or when a scene feels like it is talking to the audience.

Bar Boys The Musical | Photo by Irvin Arenas

With the bigness of the theater, the tiniest and most intimate scenes – like the ones shared by Erik and his father or Justice Hernandez, the toughest but most important teacher the lead characters meet – become these powerful turning points that emphasize the narrative beats. In the smaller venue, we feel like voyeur peeking into private moments. On a proscenium stage, we feel permitted to watch allowing us to fully react and feel what these scenes evoke in us to feel.

Bar Boys The Musical | Photo by Irvin Arenas

Most of the cast from the previous runs have returned, and they wear these roles like a second skin. Alex Diaz, who plays Chris, has a confidence that defines his character, which also makes him a little forceful, leaning into domineering. Jerom Canlas, who plays Torran, is having more fun with the character, working with physicality and gestures to show how his character’s hidden nature is a lot more visible to everyone but himself. Josh is always a fan favourite and Omar Uddin has charm by the boatload and he uses this to fill the stage. Juliene Mendoza, who plays Erik’s father Peping, and Gimbey Dela Cruz, who plays a dual role of Torran’s mother and a lady who Josh befriends, are such solid performers that they help the show hit its most poignant moments.

Bar Boys The Musical | Photo by CJ Ochoa

But the two who truly rise to the new scale of this production are Benedix Ramos as Erik and Sheila Francisco as Justice Hernandez. Ramos manages to layer his portrayal of Erik in such a way that even his moments of weakness are felt even when he’s keeping it inside. He vascillates from big emotions to small emotions and all of it are picked up on stage that he has the most dynamic of performances. He has such a gift that allows him to work small but can project it big so that its seen and heard and felt all the way to the back of the audience.

Bar Boys The Musical | Photo by Kevin Sembrano

Francisco, on the other hand, who has played Justice Hernandez as a wise, older mentor, with a calm energy, now plays her as a rockstar in field of law. She’s brazzy, she’s tough, she’s admired, and she knows it. She comes in like a force of nature and embodies the reason why every character in the play is so in awe of her.

Bar Boys The Musical | Photo by Myra Ho

So, it’s equally amazing when, in the more somber moments, she becomes a nurturing, tender soul that can inspire the lead characters in their darkest moments. It’s a powerhouse performance that shows, Francisco has been holding it back in the smaller venue in fear of tearing it down with her power.

Bar Boys The Musical | Photo by Kyle Venturillo

On opening day, there were a few technical hiccups, and the new ensemble still needed to tighten their choreography and to temper their boundless energy. But these are easily fixed that will naturally smooth out with more performances. Even with these little flaws, the show is already such a triumph of theater. This is how “Bar Boys: The Musical” should be: big and bold. It’s an inspiring play that’s fun and moving and it truly deserves a venue grand enough and a production that can amplify its message to an even larger audience.

My Rating:

Catch Bar Boys The Musical in all its bold, inspiring glory as it takes over Hyundai Hall, Areté until November 23. With powerful performances, unforgettable songs, and moments that hit right in the heart, this larger-than-life production shines brighter than ever. Don’t miss it! Grab your tickets now via Ticket2Me.

November 3, 2025
MOVIE REVIEW: Uneven But Enjoyable, ‘Near Death’ is Still a Fun Pinoy Horror Film

Premiering in SM’s Sine Sindak, director Richard Somes delivers an enjoyable Pinoy horror film with lots of jump scares, frightening imagery, and brutal action in his latest film ‘Near Death.’ This is the kind of film that’s best to watch with your friends or family, screaming at the thrills and scares and having a good time this Halloween season.

‘Near Death’ is about Julia (Charlie Dizon), who is revived after she throws herself off her building. She’s a tortured soul with a dark past that led her to committing suicide but she was quickly brought to the hospital and was saved by the doctors there. She recovers back at home where her sister, Mia (Xyriel Manabat), watches over her as does the security guard of her building, Mang Celso (Soliman Cruz), and a neighbour, Aling Salve (Lotlot De Leon). But when Julia was brought back, something came along with her. Visions of a hellish limbo intrudes into her sight, and she can see ghosts who are trying to take her body. While many don’t believe her, most especially Mia, Aling Salve believes in the supernatural and she finds connection with another survivor of suicide, Lucas (RK Bagatsing).

While the screenplay by Somes and Jim Flores is the weakest part of the film – it has a tendency to meander, introduce characters that don’t serve the story (such as Julia’s boyfriend who appears at the start and never is seen again), it leans too heavily on the drama at times – the film finds its footing through Somes’ understanding of the genre and his deftness at crafting the mood and atmosphere that makes the film dark, heavy, and scary.

Somes exploration into the ghost story is very physical and kinetic. His camerawork, lenses by Luis Quirino, is an active agent in creating the set ups for the jump scares and the frightening scenes. Every place is dark, filled with shadows, and editor Jamie Dumancas allows a seamless flow so when things start to turn violent, everything is caught on camera, displaying the brutality of being haunted by ghosts.

‘Near Death’ explores the paranormal consequences of breaking through to the other side. It doesn’t go too deep into the psychosis of these characters but what it wants to portray is how these dark thoughts stay with us, take physical form, and harm us if we don’t try to get help and find some form of redemption from the trauma that holds us down.

Dizon, De Leon, and Cruz are wonderful actors that create a sense of believability to the world. They manage to play out the film’s horror in ways that makes it thrilling and exciting but also imbibe the film with a heart that keeps the film centered on the human aspect of the film’s genre. Manabat, unfortunately, has all the high-drama moments and approaches the character at such a high level that it comes off one-dimensional. It’s high-energy that doesn’t build up and could use a bit of nuance in its delivery. On the other hand, Bagatsing is always a reliable actor, but Lucas is an underwritten character and so while Bagatsing is a good sounding board for Dizon, there’s not much he can do to make the character go beyond that of a plot-device. His own agency doesn’t quite come into play in the film.

Regardless of its flaws, ‘Near Death’ is a perfect Pinoy horror film. Under Somes’ strong direction and production design, the film is visually impactful and has all the trappings of a fun time in the theater. This is a good popcorn movie for the Halloween season.

My Rating:

Near Death is now showing on the big screen. Check showtimes near you.

October 30, 2025
MOVIE REVIEW: If Not Taken Seriously, ‘Shell’ Can Be a Campy, Crazy Trip

Despite a weak script by Jack Stanley, ‘Shell’ manages to be playful, silly, and also downright creepy as director Max Minghella leans towards a campy tone that saves it from failing as a horror film. The fact that its two stars, Elisabeth Moss and Kate Hudson, understood that the film lacks gravitas, plays it a little over-the-top, synching in with its silly atmosphere and bringing it to camp.

‘Shell’ is set in a not-too-distant future filled with a lot of self-driving cars and a beauty and cosmetic industry that ensures everyone can look good. So, when Samantha Lake (Elisabeth Moss), an actress with a hit TV sitcom, attends auditions surrounded by flawless women who are stick-thin. She has a healthy figure, with curves in all the right places and by all accounts, she is a beautiful girl, as is Moss. But the film positions her as someone who isn’t trying hard enough. It doesn’t help that she has psoriasis that adds to her insecurities. Her agency just signed a contract with a leading cosmetic treatment facility called Shell, run by Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson), who is playing a senior citizen but the treatments at Shell have kept her youthful. Samantha’s agency suggests she takes treatments to further her career.

Samantha goes through with the treatment, which implants crustacean genes into her body. This allows her cellular processes to shed old cells and regrow new ones, keeping her young forever, much like Zoe. But based on the film’s opening, a prologue where a woman (a cameo by Elizabeth Berkley) is suffering from strange growths coming out of her skin. Zoe befriends Samantha and forces the meek and insecure Samantha to come out of her shell, pun intended and fully embrace her femininity and power. But Samantha begins showing signs of the same growth and the film swiftly shifts from a creepy suspense film into body horror.

Stanley’s script is bit on the nose and has a tendency to write in scenes and narrative points that don’t really lead anywhere and slows down the film’s pace. But Minghella allows his two lead actresses to act up a storm, letting them play that leans into the silliness of the narrative and brings it into the realm of camp. Unfortunately, camp also needs to have big ambitions and failing at them and ‘Shell’ isn’t as ambitious as it should be to really settle into that mold. So, while the film fun and enjoyable, it lacks the spark that made a similar movie like ‘The Substance’ truly memorable.

Minghella is pretty good at creating creepy moments and managing the tension, allowing it to build and build so that when the film enters into the genre of a creature feature, complete with a giant monster, we are already prepared. The film goes off the rails and into absurdist territory by the last 20 minutes, with Kate Hudson veering into crazy villain mode that you can’t help but laugh.

Both Moss and Hudson are exceptional actors, and the way by which they lay it on thick makes ‘Shell’ enjoyable to watch. Moss excellently shifts Samantha from the meek and insecure girl into the self-confident, empowered actress post-treatment but the character that was there at the beginning is still there, underneath, and manages to pop up when things go crazy. It’s a wonderful juggling act that elevates the film. Hudson, on the other hand, is completely committed to the craziness of the film’s premise. She sells it by being so dedicated to Zoe’s villain arc.

What I did love about ‘Shell’, though, is how it empowers Samantha without turning her into another thin or flawless like the other women in the film. The film is steadfast in that a woman who isn’t svelte or model stereotype is still desirable and can be a star. While failing to reach the satirical heights of ‘The Substance,’ there’s a quiet charm to ‘Shell’ that manages to present this thesis that feels very progressive, authentic and true.

My Rating:

October 27, 2025
THEATER REVIEW — Grappling the Existential: A Review of Scene Change’s Production of ‘3 Upuan’

While the premise of ‘3 Upuan’ is relatively simple, three siblings reunite at their father’s deathbed in a hospital, and as they reconnect, their lives begin to unfurl. But what is incredible about the play, written and directed by Guelan Verela-Luarca is that the unfurling spans the vast expanse of time and really goes deep into the existential questions the characters must face when one is confronted by how brief life can be. It doesn’t help that the three characters are intelligent, articulate individuals, children of college professors. The eldest, Jers, is a professor himself; Jack is an artist; and Jai, the youngest, is a journalist. When faced with their mortality – and the mortality of their loved ones – they dodge and evade the hard conversations before they get deep into it, and then would sometimes go into a soliloquy, trying to grasp the abstract nature of death and grief out loud for the audience to hear.

Sc. : Scene Change 3 Upuan

This is the fourth staging of the play in just a year, first performed last September in the dressing room of Hyundai Hall of Areté, followed by another run in February also at Arete, and then in August at Archivo 1984 in Makati. For this Sc. : Scene Change production, it is held once again at the Areté, but at the museum lobby, surrounded by an exhibition of kite paintings.

There’s only about 50 chairs set on a space formed as a thrust stage, with the three actors seated on three chairs before a large projector screen. And the intimacy of the setup places the audience front and center in an immense exploration of philosophy, language, time, and grief.

With the audience seated so close, and only three chairs and a video projection as props, the three actors have nowhere to hide. The play runs for roughly 100 minutes without intermission so it’s you and them and the journey they take you through these characters’ inner world and their wealth of emotions on this very challenging time. But Paolo O’Hara as Jers, Jasmine Curtis-Smith as Jai, and Cris Pasturan as Jack are more than capable of taking on that challenge.

While each actor in their own right brings to life all the nuances and layers of their characters, what’s incredible is how believable and tangible their relationship is as siblings. There’s a shorthand in their gestures and their subtle chuckles that indicate a shared history, an ongoing dynamic that really sells the story to the audience. As they face the impending passing of their father, and later, deal with the aftermath of that loss and all that it entails, what remains is the love between the siblings that needs to process that pain.

Complicating all of this is the fact that Jai lives abroad. She returns home to find Jack unable to paint again, no longer able to afford his child support payments for his daughter, and has strained his relationship with his Kuya Jers. Jai has her own life in New York that appears to be crumbling and, interspersed are Jers’ lectures in class about language, philosophy, and anthropology.

From here, the work goes further than the story of the siblings, memory, philosophy, and language breaks the barriers of time that allows Jai and other characters to breach the metaphysical and allows us a peek into the siblings’ past, present, and future through soliloquy, a changing of the arrangements of chairs, and a gorgeous video projection.

Of the many amazing works by Guelan Varela-Luarca, 3 Upon stands out as my favourite – both in writing and direction – and the heaviness of the play’s narrative is matched by the intellectual density of its themes and scope that he manages to make comprehensible by framing it into the dynamic of these three characters. The intimacy, the song choices, the sparseness of the staging, and the way the actors have been primed to really act and feel like a family allows us to take all of what Varela-Luarca offers in the writing and allows us to chew on it. This is a triumph of theater. ‘3 Upuan’ captures the dense existential ruminations of three people in the face of their mortality and makes it an emotional journey without the need for spectacle. It’s performed wonderfully and I was tears through the last half of the show.

My Rating:

October 27, 2025
MOVIE REVIEW — When Unemployment Leads to Murder: A Review of ‘No Other Choice’

A satirical black comedy, Park Chan-wook’s ‘No Other Choice’ uses humor and absurdity to highlight the human cost of modernization and industrialization. He spins a delicate web of fantasy and reality, taking a paper industry expert Yoo Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) and throwing his world asunder when he loses his job as the paper industry begins automating work that once needed people to do and manage. Before being laid off, Man-su was living an ideal life with his wife Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin), their two children, and two dogs in a wonderful home that he grew up in. Working in a dead-end job while applying to other paper companies, Mi-ri has to return to work while the comfortable life they used to live is slowing disappearing: less meat during meals, their dogs must move with Mi-ri’s parents, the bills are piling up unpaid. Man-su then plans to take extreme action to get back to a high paying job at a new paper company that has broken into the Japanese market and is willing to murder his competition for the post.

Park Chan-wook is a fabulous director able to marry the conventions of comedy, suspense, and even absurdism into one cohesive whole. He jumps through various genres to keep the energy of the film rolling while we are laughing at the extremities of Man-su’s predicament and horrified by the lengths at which he’d go to protect his way of life.

He even goes so far as to create a fake company looking for applicants with the same qualifications as his own, just to find out who his strongest competitors are for the post at the new paper company.

Man-su begins stalking each of them to find out how best to eradicate them from the competition. But since Man-su is not a killer, and the people who he follows are either hilariously situated in life, like Beom-mo (Lee Sung-min) and his wife (Yum Hye-ran), or on the opposite end, in a similar situation as he is, ‘No Other Choice’ brings through so many emotions.

It doesn’t help that Son Ye-jin is an incredible actress, and Park Chan-wook also gives her some incredible moments that include fending off her boss at work (Yoo Yeon-seok), who obviously likes her, while wondering where her husband is off to at all hours of the day and night.

Her own fears and suspicions lead her to her own dark conclusions and those also of their son while it triggers their young daughter who is special in her own right.

Park Chan-wook uses the full range of cinematic techniques to create vivid imagery that really elicits the emotions he wants to push in the film. Wonderful visually comedy that works hand-in-hand with the quick editing to induce humor in moments that lead to violence.

Even the violence is funny. He manages to find humor in desperation all because there are solutions that are available, but his characters are so stuck in their old ways, their old way of living to truly embrace the change.

What he ultimately delivers is creating a powerful commentary on a capitalist world that favours having things, equating a good life with the things that money can buy, and thus allows us to laugh at Man-su and his dark road to a “better life” while still empathizing with him because we all are aware of the truth behind the seductive world of a capitalist society. There’s also a huge depiction of how modernization and industrialization are completely removing the human element, rendering us – and experts in their field – non-essential.

‘No Other Choice’ is a brilliant piece of work from the director behind such powerful films as ‘Old Boy,’ ‘The Handmaiden,’ and ‘Decision to Leave.’ I loved all those films, but I have to say that ‘No Other Choice’ might just be my favourite Park Chan-wook film as of the moment, for its precision and its deftness at juggling multiple genres and turning it into an enjoyable film with a strong punch.

My Rating:

Don’t miss Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, a sharp, hilarious, and haunting look at the cost of ambition in a modern world. Check showtimes and buy tickets here.

October 21, 2025
Movie Review — Demystifying the Hero: a Review of ‘Quezon’

The final installment of Jerrold Tarog’s Bayaniverse is a powerful political drama that details the cunning machinations of Manuel Quezon and his bid for being the first Filipino president of the Republic of the Philippines, outside of American colonial rule. ‘Quezon’ unabashedly paints the Philippine president as a manipulator and somewhat of a narcissist, quite adept at playing the political game and creating a system that allowed him to fulfill his agenda at the price of creating today’s patronage political system.

Jericho Rosales is completely transformed as the charming, cutthroat Manuel Quezon. He uses his full superstar onscreen presence to showcase Quezon’s ability to broker deals, convince rivals to join forces, and to outwit the American colonial forces. His posture, his intonation and line delivery is so affected that it almost feels comical, put-on but as the film continues to unfold and the consistency of his performance wins you over, you stop seeing Rosales and he becomes this political mastermind.

Co-written with Rody Vera, director Jerold Tarog makes full use of the medium of film, creating a film within the film to showcase Quezon’s use of the platform to help create a myth of his persona. Tarog employs the character of Nadia Hernando (Therese Malvar), who is a director and puts together Quezon’s propaganda films. The films are so successful that it helps catapults Quezon’s popularity but Nadia and her father, the journalist Joven Hernando (played by Cris Villanueva as the older Joven and Arron Villaflor as the younger Joven in flashbacks), know the truth behind the myth they’ve made.

While the films paint Quezon as a hero, a secret cut of the film made by Nadia shows the truth she and her father know. It details the way Quezon has run circles around the American governor-general Leonard Wood (Iain Glen) and Quezon’s own rival and, later, his vice-president Sergio Osmena (Romnick Sarmenta). It details all the ugly politicking that transpired during the eventual presidential campaign when he goes toe-to-toe with Emilio Aguinaldo (Mon Confiado) for the presidency.

Throughout the film’s 139-minute run time, what we see is the origins of personality politics in the country and the establishing of our patronage system. The veil has been lifted and the story that Tarog and Vera weave is one of dirty politics, all in the name of winning freedom and independence from the colonial hold of the United States.

No matter how charming and effective Jericho Rosales is in his portrayal of Quezon, what really comes to light is how powerful media is in our game of politics, that in order to win in that field one must be willing to do whatever it takes, and like Quezon’s wife, Aurora (Karylle) tells him when he asks her if what he’s doing is right, her response is as honest as it can be: “I believe you believe what you are doing is right.”

‘Quezon’ is grand and epic in scale and scope. Tarog imagines for us what the campaign during this period would be like: large-scale crowd scenes, gorgeous scenery of colonial architecture, and striking costumes that highlight our American and Spanish colonial roots while interplaying this with that of our folk and local sensibilities when portraying the people whose very nation Quezon is fighting for.

The movie is thrilling, never dawdling. The pace is quick and brutal, and its imagery is playful and dynamic. At one moment, it captures Quezon in mid-manipulation, sly and cunning; in another scene, he comically loses his temper (which funnily enough happens quite a lot). Other times, the backstory is filled in the form of a silent film that Nadia creates for us to see their perception of Quezon’s truth.

But the most powerful thematic idea that really comes to the forefront, is in the midst of fighting for our independence, Quezon gets lost in the battle and makes this about himself; or maybe it has been about him all this time. It underscores that our political history has always been the battlefield of narcissists who crave for power, to direct the course of our nation’s history whether with the best of intentions or not. Watching the film, I’m amazed at its technical flourish, its bravado and ambition. But as the film ends, I’m feeling rage and anger, seeing the root cause of our issues with our government as detailed by the news and social media these past few weeks. The film’s timing couldn’t have been any better.

My Rating:

Catch Quezon on the big screen and witness how history, ambition, and myth collide in Jerrold Tarog’s bold reimagining of Philippine independence. Check showtimes near you.

October 16, 2025
Movie Review — Cinemalaya XXI: The Rewards of ‘Cinemartyrs’ Are Immense If You Can Get Through Its Digressive Experimental Narrative

The conceptual conceit of Sari Dalena’s ‘Cinemartyrs’ creates a fantastic moment of catharsis at her film’s end that sort of rewards the audience from being able to muster the labyrinthine first half of her film. It’s a personal essay, a narrative historical rumination, and an artist’s statement about the power of film, all rolled into one experimental movie. The film meanders and strays from its plot, building a world that picks up all the elements it juggles into the air and creates a collision that can leave you breathless. It wasn’t an easy film for its first hour but once we reach the point of intersection, the film becomes a celebration of all that is wonderful about film and filmmaking.

‘Cinemartyrs’ follows Shirin (Nour Houshmand), a young filmmaker shooting a documentary that reenacts massacres from the Philippine-American war. When she shows her progress to the grant-giving body, they belittle her and the footage she has presented calling it incomplete.

Cinemartyrs | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

She is then asked to include historical events that happened in Mindanao and Shirin takes her small crew to Jolo to document and revisit an American surprise attack on a Tausug village during a wedding. But as she begins filming on site, she touches upon something profound and metaphysical.

Cinemartyrs | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

‘Cinemartyrs’ is an experimental film that uses the medium to remember fragments of history that is lost, to comment on them, and at the same time, make a commentary on the medium itself as a convergence point of history, geography, and culture.

Cinemartyrs | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

Time operates differently in the film, such as a wonderful scene showing Shirin’s mom (Raquel Villavicencio) working on research about Filipina directors and screenwriters from the early days of the Philippine film industry.

Cinemartyrs | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

She is rediscovering them, engaging with them and their contributions to Philippine cinema and thus is able to bring back their spirit and have a conversation with them. This scene occurs within the first hour and diverts the narrative plot but becomes an essential element that plays on hard later on in the film.

Cinemartyrs | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

But there are many digressions such as these in the film that can make the viewing of it a bit strained. It starts and stops and sometimes it works marvelously, like the scene of Villavicencio, but it can also appear indulgent and unnecessary as when Shirin and her husband, Kevin (Cedrick Juan) meet and have a sit down with Kidlat Tahimik (playing himself) talking about the duende, which Tahimik has discussed in many venues. Its repetition in the film feels out of place, so ordinary in a film that’s operating in the realm of the metaphysical.

Cinemartyrs | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

Things don’t fully come together until the third act, when Shirin and her small team arrive at the Tausug village to reenact the massacre, and that’s when the film’s thesis finally comes into play. All the disparate subplots and digressions start to come together to create a climax that’s as visually stunning as it is profoundly moving.

Cinemartyrs | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

The past is thrust into the present, the present is engaging with the past in a way that may be impossible and in the final scene of the film, the future is made clear. At the center of all of this is the medium of film as a gateway for this intersection.

Cinemartyrs | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

The film is definitely a personal one, with certain character interactions and dynamics feeling less universal and more distinct and unique; an inside joke we are made privy to but not included in. But what Dalena ends up creating is a love letter to Filipino women filmmakers who have paved the way in the industry and the way that they continue to break boundaries. Their very existence – and in the process of remembering them – is an opposition to the patriarchal hold of oppression our colonial past has left us. This is an immense work that requires a lot from its audience but also gives back tenfold.

Cinemartyrs is showing on the big screen. Check cinema showtimes near you and grab your tickets today.

This year, don’t miss Cinemalaya 21: LAYAG sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos happening from October 3-12, 2025! Witness another stellar lineup of stories that will move you and showcase the brilliance of Philippine cinema. Follow the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Cinemalaya for updates.

October 12, 2025
Movie Review: The Future is Pretty but One-Dimensional: A Review of ‘Tron: Ares’

Set in an unspecified near future where tech companies now have the technology to transfer programs from a virtual, computerized world and give it physical form in the real world, ‘Tron: Ares’ creates many reasons for and against the future of AI technology but never really saying any one thing conclusive about it. It opens a lot of questions and points of discussion, but seems more interested with its gorgeous visual effects and a tedious, overcomplicated plot revolving around an errant AI program and a tech CEO determined to save the world.

The film is billed as a “standalone sequel” to ‘Tron: Legacy,’ which came out 15 years ago. You don’t have to see the last film (or the first) to pick up what’s going on. I’ve seen both ‘Tron’ and ‘Tron: Legacy’ and barely remember much of both but didn’t really need that info to follow ‘Tron: Ares.’ What’s established is that there is a virtual world called The Grid, which a human was able to enter in the first two movies.

Jared Leto as Ares in Disney’s TRON: ARES. Photo Courtesey of DIsney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

But in the third installment, two rival tech companies are competing to find a code that can make programs they laser-printed from The Grid into the real world permanent.

(L-R) Arturo Castro as Seth Flores and Greta Lee as Eve Kim in Disney’s Live Action TRON: ARES. Photo by Leah Gallo. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Eve Kim (Greta Lee), CEO of ENCOM, wants to use the code improve human civilization while Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), CEO of Dillinger Systems, wants to transfer programs from The Grid to make weapons and soldiers to sell for defense contracts with the government.

Hasan Minhaj as Ajay Singh in Disney’s Live Action TRON: ARES. Photo by Leah Gallo. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Jared Leto as Ares in Disney’s TRON: ARES. Photo by Leah Gallo. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

In the midst of this rivalry, Julian creates a program, Ares (Jared Leto), and trains it to be the best and sends it to follow and capture Eve Kim as she seems the closest to finding the permanence code. But in the process of research about Eve, Ares develop sentience and veers off his programming, setting out on his own agenda.

Evan Peters as Julian Dillinger in Disney’s Live Action TRON: ARES. Photo by Leah Gallo. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The permanence code becomes the film’s McGuffin, the object everybody wants and needs to complete their task and goal. It’s what brings Ares and Eve cross paths and join forces while the maniacal Julian sends more and more programs after the two even against the wishes of his mother, Elisabeth Dillinger (Gillian Anderson).

Gillian Anderson as Elisabeth Dillinger and Evan Peters as Julian Dillinger in Disney’s Live Action TRON: ARES. Photo by Leah Gallo. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Almost all the characters here feel incomplete and one-dimensional. Eve wants to fix the world through this technology because of a promise she had with her sister, Julian is taken straight out of the evil villain trope, acting loud and proud for the work his programs do (not for anything he did in particular), while Ares wants permanence to continue his curiosity about living. None of these storylines ever fully develop, as the film moves from chase sequence after the next, showing off one gorgeous special effect after another.

A scene from Disney’s Live Action TRON: ARES. Photo Courtesey of DIsney. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

While the story is paper thin, what makes ‘Tron: Ares’ watchable is the gorgeous CGI effects that bring these programs into the real world. There’s a bike chase sequence that’s high-speed and high-stakes.

A scene from Disney’s TRON: ARES. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The bikes from The Grid leaves a trail that takes physical shape and the choreography that director Joachim Ronning employs allows for excellent visuals. Later on in the film, they introduce planes and drones with a similar effect, and on 3D IMAX, the imagery is gorgeous. Amplified by a thrilling soundtrack of Nine Inch Nails, and there are some moments in the cinema that feel quite lovely to watch.

Greta Lee as Kim in Disney’s Live Action TRON: ARES. Photo Courtesey of DIsney. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

But the story is so thin that even some of the best actors in the movie don’t seem to know what to do with their characters. I love Lee since ‘Past Lives’ and ‘The Morning Show,’ but she feels so out of place here, working with a character without any real depth.

Evans is chewing scenery and looks like he’s having fun, while Anderson is able to create some level of layer in Elisabeth but even, she seems lost in all of this. I’m not a fan of Leto or his offscreen persona and identity, so it was hard to watch the film with him as the lead knowing this but even his acting talents (he did win an Oscar, after all) couldn’t do much to make Ares an interesting character.

Jared Leto as Ares in Disney’s Live Action TRON: ARES. Photo Courtesey of DIsney. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Leto looks unsure about how sentient Ares could be. He tried stoicism, but the script forces him to try and attempt at humor. He seems interested in Eve Kim but is struggling to find out how that appears on a program turned real. Leto’s uncertainty makes Ares the least interesting character in the film, and this is strongly noted when his character finds himself separated from the main plot and you realise you’re not interested in his side quest.

(L-R) Jared Leto as Ares and Jeff BRidges as Flynn in Disney’s Live Action TRON: ARES. Photo by Leah Gallo. © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The film tries to balance out both sides of the vision of future technology. Eve Kim wants to use this tech to create food, housing and cure diseases, but Julian wants it to build weapons and soldiers he can sell. We already know how damaging AI technology can be to the environment and we can’t imagine the cost to laser-print into existence all the things the film is showing us the future could hold. All that we see in the movie uses up a massive power, but the film takes it for granted, as it is more involved in its plot. It never really makes any sort of stand for whether any of this is good or bad. It gives a “good” AI (Ares) and a “bad” AI (Athena, played by Jodie Turner-Smith) but doesn’t say anything about this other than it seems to push for us to appreciate Ares’ bid for humanity. It feels like a platitude and an attempt to inject some humanity into what maybe an action thriller.

My Rating:

Experience the future like never before. Catch TRON: Ares on the big screen and get lost in its stunning visuals, electrifying soundtrack, and high-speed action. See it now in cinemas and feel the Grid come alive in 3D IMAX!

October 12, 2025
Cinemalaya XXI: The Invisible Craftsmanship of ‘Open Endings’ Makes It a Charming, Loveable Movie

There’s something magical about how natural and organic ‘Open Endings’ feels as a film. There’s a rhythm and flow to this slice-of-life story about four queer women who happen to be best friends while having had some romantic or sexual entanglement with each other at one point in their lives. The fact that they all consider themselves exes at some point is the film’s hook, but ‘Open Endings’ goes beyond a simple rom-com movie by also detailing how these four women navigate adulthood and try to reconcile their rather messy feelings without disrupting their friendship and their own sense of safety.

Director Nigel Santos and screenwriter Keavy Eunice Vicente don’t try to make broad, sweeping generalizations about being a queer woman in the Philippines and by doing so, they manage expectations and go beyond it.

BTS Open Endings | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

The film’s issues involved become relatable and universal in the treatment of these women as individuals rather than some big allegory about the queer woman struggle. By keeping it personal and intimate, the film feels of this world. The characters become familiar and recognizable, and the audience then finds their own insights about the struggles of queer women today. It’s not force-fed and that’s where I found its charm.

Open Endings | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

The film focuses on four queer women – Hannah (Jasmine Curtis-Smith), Charlie (Janella Salvador), Kit (Klea Pineda), and Mihan (Leanne Mamonong) – who gather every Sunday at Hannah’s house while going through their own issues with adulthood. Hannah is ready to move on after two years of grieving her late lover.

Open Endings | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

Kit comes off as a player, regularly hooking up with other women, finds herself challenged by a growing tension with the mother of one of her students holds the key to unlocking her own free-spirited nature. Mihan still carries the torch for Hannah, whom she had been with for five years, but has commitment issues. While Charlie begins the story with her newly-formed-relationship having issues with Charlie being friends with her exes.

Open Endings | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

Santos, Vicente, along with cinematographer Martika Ramirez Escobar and editor Maria Estela Paiso, keep the film from slipping into the realm of melodrama by avoiding the usual pitfalls of unnecessary overdramatic tropes. Paiso’s editing flows smoothly from one character to the next, never lingering or over-staying in a scene so that it doesn’t emphasize the drama but still highlights the character the conflict.

BTS Open Endings | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

Escobar’s cinematography pushes in, so we see each character reacting, making decisions, taking all of it in and then pulling out to put them in context of time and space. This world – one which I’m not a part of or privy to – becomes so clear and inviting. I don’t have to be a queer woman to enjoy the humor and the pathos that the film portrays.

Open Endings | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

And the ensemble carries a natural charm and comfort in their roles, giving the film a grounded edge that makes the film all the more accessible. Salvador and Curtis-Smith are excellent as Charlie and Hannah, with Curtis-Smith doing that difficult task of not making the nurturing and loving Hannah a stereotypical nice girl.

Open Endings | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

As written, Hannah can be the most boring character of the bunch – a grieving woman who loves and takes care of her friends, sometimes to her own detriment – but Curtis-Smith doesn’t make her a caricature or a saint. It’s well done.

Open Endings | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

Pineda is a powerful screen presence and manages to go against her gorgeous appearance for some truly funny moments. There’s a silliness that she can tap into that goes contrary to her amazing physicality that creates a nice tension and makes her more interesting to watch.

Open Endings | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

But while all the performances are great, it is Mamonong who steals the show. She is the most comfortable in her character (despite having the heaviest conflict to portray) and she is the most natural in her delivery of her dialogue and her character’s quirks and eccentricities. It never feels like acting. Mamonong makes Mihan feel like a fully formed person. It’s really a breakthrough performance.

BTS Open Endings | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division

There’s so much heart in ‘Open Endings,’ and the way the whole theater reacted to every story beat shows how the film holds down all the technical flourish to allow the story and the humanity of this film rise. Sometimes, the best craftsman are the ones that hide their skill that you only see the thing. All the elements – cinematography, writing, acting, editing, production design, music – just disappears and blends together that all I see is this lovely story of a messy but loveable group of friends navigating adulthood with all its open endings, as the film’s title suggests.

Open Endings is showing on the big screen. Check cinema showtimes near you and grab your tickets today.

This year, don’t miss Cinemalaya 21: LAYAG sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos happening from October 3-12, 2025! Witness another stellar lineup of stories that will move you and showcase the brilliance of Philippine cinema. Follow the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Cinemalaya for updates.

October 10, 2025
Movie Review — Cinemalaya XXI: The Weight of the Tragedy Keeps ‘Padamlagan’ from Finding Its Feet

Jenn Romano’s ‘Padamlagan’ uses film to remember, stitching together interviews about the Naga tragedy using photographs to reimagine that era, while weaving in a narrative about a father whose son goes missing to encapsulate that feeling and making it tangible. The blurring of reality and fiction is an interesting use of the medium and pushes Romano’s message that the victims of the tragedy must not be forgotten. But Romano’s film aesthetic and style linger, is a quiet remembering but the story she is trying to tell needs a bit more volume.

The story in the middle of the retelling revolves around a father, Doring (Ely Buendia), who seems out of sorts, not fully in the present. He lives with his in-laws (Sue Prado and Floy Tena) while his son, Ivan (Esteban Mara), grows up and distant after a stint studying in Manila. The city of Naga is a buzz due to the fluvial procession for Our Lady of Peñafrancia. Ivan is at odds with his uncle and his father, unwilling to take part in the family going-ons and earning a reputation for being a troublemaker. When the Colgante Bridge collapses and hundreds die, Ivan goes missing. Doring spends the rest of the film looking for his son and witnessing the effects of that tragedy on the lives of the people around him.

Padamlagan | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

In order to create that feeling of remembrance, Romano uses a lot of still shots. Her camera, lensed by Steven Paul Evangelio, barely moves while the world enters and exits the frame. Most of the time, the film takes a long shot keeping us distant from the characters and their business. This aesthetic can leave the audience cold because we don’t really get to see the full scope of the strains of the relationship between Doring and Ivan and Ivan with the rest of his family, especially his soldier uncle.

Padamlagan | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

By using a still shot, the characters have to come into place, and this creates a lingering feeling. It slows down the pace and the energy of the film. It’s actually a standard 90-minute film but it can feel much longer. Except for a few actors, most of the dialogue in the narrative are delivered in short bursts with pauses or silences in-between lines. The dialogue doesn’t flow like conversational language, so the energy of the scene never really pushes through. Floyd Tena is the most conversational of the actors, delivering his dialogue (all of which is in Bicolano) with the most ease that his scenes are always the strongest, the most natural. Everyone else seems to be going through an emotional moment. Instead of nostalgia or emphasis, it makes the film feel over-dramatic.

Padamlagan | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

Padamlagan | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

As the main character, Buendia gets the most close-ups (followed by Mara), but unfortunately, Buendia has such a stoicism that he fails to really bring out his character’s interior world. The most telling of this is during the fluvial parade, where Doring is paddling surrounded by other paddlers on boats. Through sound effects, we realise the bridge is collapsing and all the other characters around him are panicking, their faces awash with horror. But Buendia’s face remains the same. There’s a slight tension in the jaw, but no other emotion comes out. His paddling doesn’t even change that much and so the effect of the tragedy is slightly diminished. And this is an issue I have throughout the rest of the film with him. He’s our foil, our way of understanding the story and the immense grief that followed the collapse of the bridge, but we never really get to feel it. On Mara’s close-ups, there is a world of hurt and pain there that’s hidden just below the eyes.

Padamlagan | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

The film talks about the tragedy in detail but only slightly implies its effect and connection to the declaration of Martial Law just a few days after the tragedy. There are implications of Ivan’s possible engagement with the communist party and there are one or two scenes of police and military brutality but it’s not enough for the film to truly make any link between the tragedy of Colgante in 1972 and the declaration of Martial Law and all the tragedies that happened due to that declaration. There’s a causality that the film attempts at establishing but doesn’t quite hunker down in any real detail. The Colgante Bridge tragedy is an event entirely of its own and by mentioning that Martial Law was declared just days after bears no meaning.

Padamlagan | Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya / CCP Corporate Communications Division’

The weight of memory bears down on ‘Padamlagan’ that the film doesn’t find its own two feet. There’s no catharsis in this film, a bold choice, but without a fuller understanding of Doring as a character or a means to visually grasp what he’s feeling, the film’s attempt to turn the feeling tangible escapes me. It’s strongest when it acts as memory, recounting real-life stories and showing photos of the event. That was more affecting than the film.

Padamlagan is showing on the big screen. Check cinema showtimes near you and grab your tickets today.

This year, don’t miss Cinemalaya 21: LAYAG sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos happening from October 3-12, 2025! Witness another stellar lineup of stories that will move you and showcase the brilliance of Philippine cinema. Follow the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Cinemalaya for updates.

October 9, 2025