Everything about married lives
Half of ‘Everything About My Wife ‘is comedic, a quarter is romantic, and the rest dramatic.
Daily TribuneHalf of ‘Everything About My Wife ‘is comedic, a quarter is romantic, and the rest dramatic.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JENNYLYN MERCADO/IG
Jennylyn Mercado and Dennis Trillo.
Michelle Gumabao and Aldo Panlilio.
Cedric Juan and Kate Alejandrino.
Could newly-wed celebrity couples Michelle Gumabao, 32, and Aldo Panlilio, 35; Cedric Juan, 34, and Kate Alejandrino (age undisclosed), imagine themselves falling into what the couple portrayed by Jennylyn Mercado and Dennis Trillo, a married couple off-camera, go through in the now-showing film Everything About My Wife?
In the movie, the married couple Imo (Mercado) and Dom (Trillo) had to break up after seven years of marriage because they became utterly disgusted with what they had become to each other: apathetic, arrogant, almost heartless.
In the movie, the married couple Imo (Mercado) and Dom (Trillo) had to break up after seven years of marriage because they became utterly disgusted with what they had become to each other: apathetic, arrogant, almost heartless.
But, wait, the film is publicized as a romcom as written by Rona Co and directed by Real Florido. The former has been writing and co-writing movie and TV scripts since 2011, the most recent being the Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards top-billed Hello, Love, Goodbye, now touted to have grossed P1. 6 billion worldwide.
The youthful and actor-looking Florido began directing in 2014 with Cinemalaya’s “First Ko si Third, a comedy drama about senior citizens, starring Nova Villa, Dante Rivero, and Freddie Webb.
Well, half of Everything About My Wife is comedic, a quarter is romantic, and the rest dramatic. Watch the film, so you’ll know in what order those elements are presented. We’ll squeak to you now, though, that Mercado has more romantic scenes with Sam Milby’s character than with husband Trillo in the film.
Milby portrays the sexy braggart that lonely widow Dom will dare to seduce his (Dom’s) wife so she would leave him. Yes, Dom wants Imo to walk out on him.
Dom’s having been brought up by an overbearing filthy rich mother (Carmi Martin) in cheery Cebu, where about half of the film was shot, turned him into a wimp.
The somewhat socialite mom has never liked Imo and has mouthfuls about her. Imo is aware that her husband hardly defend her from his mother. Oh, what a sweet, handsome, silently scheming wimp husband Dom is!
The Imo-Dom romance actually begins in the rally-hosting messy streets of Manila. Imo is some kind of a woke who joins demonstrations, while Dom is an architect who has to roam the streets in connection with his job. They that leads to have a whirlwind courtship which will lead to a quickie wedding.
Not much is shown about Imo’s family background. Some scenes though reveal that her mother (Nova Villa) is a yoga teacher. The mom keeps a buff lover (male!) somewhere in the family house where she holds yoga classes. Imo is stunned when the guy suddenly streaks in skimpy trunks in the living room. Her mother just breaks into an impish fulfilled smile.
There are quirks in the script but the lead stars’ earnest acting makes the film a delight to watch.
Meanwhile, here’s a yarn about couples Gumabao and Panlilio, Alejandrino and Juan.
Both Alejandrino and Juan begun their acting career on stage, moved up to indie films shown in Cinemalaya and other film festivals.
Juan was first noted by moviegoers for his lead performance in the BL (boys love, a euphemism for male gay romance) Two and One (2022). He broke through into national consciousness when he won Best Actor in the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival for his performance as Fr. Burgos in Gomburza. Believed to be the hottest nominee then was Piolo Pascual for his varied acting as identity-shifting serial killer who was a priest in Mallari, though massively popular actor had a cameo in Gomburza also as a cleric.
The Juan-Alejandrino romance was first disclosed to the public through Juan’s Instagram postings in 2024 October. On 1 January 2025, he posted a long poetic Tagalog disclosure about their relationship.
On 18 February, he gushingly announced on social media once more in poetic Tagalog about their engagement without revealing that they were set to marry in five days. It was actually their friends and kin who posted on 16 February about their garden wedding just a day ago.
Juan took up Communications in Far Eastern University-Manila where he first acted on stage before he did the same in the University of the Philippines’ Dulaang UP. He emoted supporting roles in indie movies as far back as 2011 before he was cast in that BL outing helmed by Ivan Andrew Payawal, who is better known as a theater director.
Juan is not an invented surname. It’s the actor’s legal family name.
Alejandrino is known for her roles in Cinemalaya’s Bula sa Langit (2022) for which she became a Young Critics Circle Best Performance nominee, and CineFilipino’s Mga Mister ni Rosario (2018) where she was also nominated as Best Actress.
Google files cite that Alejandrino was in the film Ang Pangarap Kong Holdap, which was disapproved by the Movie and Television Review and Classication Board in 2018 but charted number 1 at Netflix Philippines in 2020.
On the other hand, Gumabao, a Bb. Pilipinas runner-up and much admired professional volleyball player, had what has been reported to be “a breathtaking wedding ceremony” at the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Makati on 25 February with Panlilio, her boyfriend for eight years.
The older sister of sexy actor Marco Gumabao bared that they will have another Christian wedding in two weeks. Marco attended the wedding with girlfriend, daring actress Cristine Reyes.
Gumabao and her Creamline teammates celebrated her final days of singlehood with a unique and unforgettable funeral-themed bachelorette party, bidding farewell to her single life in style, a few days before the Catholic wedding.
Panlilio is the PBA strength and conditioning coach whose full legal name is Marco Alejandro Dolor Panlilio.