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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
