3 Filipino films to watch now at the cinemas
MANILA, Philippines — This week, three Filipino-produced films rolled into cinemas, showing that the industry isn’t giving up on theater audiences, despite less-than-ideal performance of past movies at the box-office.
Shake, Rattle & Roll (SRR) Extreme, the latest installment of the country’s longest-running horror franchise, has posted a P3.3M first day gross, according to veteran studio Regal Entertainment and is expected to draw in more audiences this weekend.
Its “must-watch” factor? Even only for the film’s Mukbang episode by Jerrold Tarog, it’s worth the price. It’s about a group of influencers being terrorized by shape-shifters. The other two episodes are Richard Somes’ Glitch, which tells about a mom and children dealing with a malignant force that can take over digital screens, while Joey de Guzman’s Rage is about an alien virus that makes people uncontrollably violent.
Part of the film’s appeal is the horror tradition it holds. It has also been 10 years since Regal released an SRR film. The cast features mainly fresh faces, including YouTuber Ninong Ry and TikTok creator of the year Esnyr Ranollo in Mukbang.
Sharing during a mediacon that he was just told to act as himself, Ninong Ry said, “Well, someone just sent an email (to star in the film) and I said, ‘Is this legit? Is this for real?’ I forwarded it to my manager, and here we are now.
“At first, I didn’t believe it because why me? Nananahimik lang naman ako dito sa bahay. But it proved to be really true… There’s no regret because the experience has been great. I’ve learned a lot on the production side, dealing with new people. Thank you so much for choosing us here. Sana natuwa kayo sa pagmumukha ko. (I hope you enjoyed looking at my face on the screens),” he quipped.
SRR Extreme was a Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2023 submission but didn’t make the cut. However, Regal Entertainment boss Roselle Monteverde still went for a theatrical run for the film amid streaming options because she said it was designed to be experienced inside a cinema.
Another originally intended MMFF 2023 entry is In His Mother’s Eyes, topbilled by Maricel Soriano, Roderick Paulate and LA Santos, among others. It is FM Reyes’ feature-length directorial debut after years of being a successful teleserye director, with his latest hit, Linlang, on Prime Video.
Flor Santos, the producer who also happens to be LA’s mom, was initially disappointed that In His Mother’s Eyes failed to secure a spot in the MMFF 2023 lineup.
The family drama tackles the relationship of an OFW mom (Maricel) with her son who is on the autism spectrum, and brother (Roderick) who has to assume as the second parent.
“I felt a bit down when (the film) wasn’t chosen. But I really believe there’s something (worthwhile) in this. We prayed for this, I believe it was sent from above, maybe because we can embrace more people through this movie,” Santos said, referring to the movie’s important themes, particularly autism.
“Because when you watch the movie, you won’t be embracing LA here. It’s like you’re embracing someone like him who can’t express that love (but which) can be brought out with the help of parents. The parents will fight for it, and those around him (that care for him).”
Direk FM also suggested that it’s a love letter to parents everywhere. “It’s also a way of thanking my mother. They have the same story. When I was talking to LA, it’s really our way of thanking our parents, and LA loves his mom so much. When we were doing it, we were all a bit emotional every time we filmed a drama scene.”
The drama incorporates lighthearted moments, thanks to its comedians, including Roderick and Ogie Diaz. However, according to FM, every character contributes a social commentary on life. He highlighted that the series raises challenging questions, such as, “Yung pagtulong mo sa pamilya mo, masaya ka ba? (Are you truly happy providing for your family?)”
Meanwhile, a “must-watch” element of this film is that it revives the hit onscreen tandem of Maricel and Roderick.
Maricel shared how their chemistry never fades even when they have disagreements. “Our arguments with Dick don’t last long, just a few minutes, like you’ve just visited the dentist,” Maricel said.
“The two of us, when I open up to Dick, he listens, he doesn’t forget. He also opens up to me, and I won’t forget either. So how can you get mad at the person?” she added.
The third Filipino or Filipino-led film showing this week is Asian Persuasion, the directorial debut of the Tony and Grammy award-winning Filipino-American producer-director Jhett Tolentino from the script of fellow Fil-Am Mike Ang.
A must-watch aspect of the film is the cast featuring KC Concepcion in her acting comeback, as well as Filipino-Americans in Hollywood Dante Basco (Hook, Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender) and Paolo Montalban (Cinderella, Mortal Kombat: Conquest and Broadway’s Funny Girl). Also joining them is Asian-Korean Kevin Kreider of Bling Empire fame.
The main cast held several premiere events in the Philippines, including outside Metro Manila like Cebu and Iloilo which is Jhett’s hometown.
Asian Persuasion earlier premiered at the SOHO International Film Festival in New York, the film’s main setting. Out of over 100 film entries, Asian Persuasion won the Audience Choice Award for full-length feature.
Asked what it meant to him to finally bring Asian Persuasion to the country, Jhett said, “This is our homeland kaya this is our first theatrical release. It’s all planned and it really means a lot to us. We could have released it in the United States first, right? So, it is extra special because we want to find out if our fellow Filipinos here can relate to the situation (in the film), especially that there is no divorce here.”
He further said, “We already had the responses from New York, Richmond and San Diego and we didn’t have any problems there so we’re kinda anxious how it is (going to be received here),” before quipping, “I’m pretty confident that nobody is gonna have a violent reaction against the movie.”
As for Dante, one of first Fil-Am actors who made a mark in Hollywood, coming home and bringing Asian Persuasion to the country is “really the future,” a realization that came about since doing The Debut (2000), where he got to work with Philippines-based actors for the first time, such as the late Eddie Garcia and Tirso Cruz III.
Over the last decade, he and his brothers would make efforts to “build bridges” between the US and the Philippines, and subsequently work on “borderless Asian media” or content that would repeatedly lead them “home.”
“Coming home is really the future, it’s borderless, no longer Philippines and America. There’s the internet, there’s Netflix, there’s worldwide release. And that’s really beautiful. There are no borders for our stories anymore. It belongs to the world,” Dante said.
Filmed entirely in New York, Asian Persuasion is about this down-on-his-luck chef Mickey (Dante), who cooks up a crazy scheme to marry off his ex-wife Avery (KC). He creates a fake Internet dating profile for her in hopes of finding her a suitor and a new husband so as to avoid his substantial alimony obligations. With the help of his trusted wingman, Mickey gets off to a hot start until he realizes he wants a second chance with Avery, although he might be too late.
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