Pinoy films are stealing the show

We Pinoys, still watch Filipino films massively, though not in the movie houses but on streaming platforms, specifically Netflix Philippines. It’s hardly true that we have been abhorring Pinoy films because their narratives are boring. Only a few are really worth walking out of the movie houses. 

The streaming company has been reporting that Filipino movies almost always get into the top spots of its Top 10 alongside foreign ones. 

It is so much less expensive to watch movies online than in theaters, of course. And with the predictable flooding in this country of cheating contractors every time it rains continuously for an hour, it’s really very smart and sensible to watch movies on streaming platforms. 

Thus, in the latest Netflix Philippines report, the 2016 horror movie Seklusyon, starring Rhed Bustamante, is currently the number one movie, even as the animated film KPop Demon Hunters has become the most popular Netflix movie of all time.

Seklusyon, helmed by Erik Matti, was a big-time winner at the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), where it won eight awards, including best director (Erik Matti), best supporting actress (Phoebe Walker), best screenplay (Anton Santamaria), and special Jury prize (for the then very young actor Rhed Bustamante).

Two other Pinoy films made it to the latest Top 10 Movies of Netflix Phl, namely, One-Hit Wonder and The Last Goodbye. The former peaked in second place on the list from 25 to 27 August.

Khalil Ramos and Sue Ramirez topbill One Hit Wonder, directed by Marla Ancheta. Also on its cast are Romnick Sarmenta, Gelli de Belen, Gladys Reyes, Vivoree Esclito, Matt Lozano, Victor Medina, Jeffrey Hidalgo and Alwyn Uytingco. 

The film is about two singers pursuing second chances at stardom in the 1990s.

The story features a ‘90s soundscape, including mixtapes, Walkmans, and other cultural touchstones, providing a nostalgic atmosphere. 

On the other hand, The Last Goodbye is about two schoolmate teens from fractured families who find solace in each other, until a life-altering event tests the strength of their bond. It top-bills the corpulent Matt Lozano and the sexy Daniella Stranner. 

Joe D’ Mango, who was once a massively followed disc jockey in the Philippines due to his flare for storytelling bittersweet letters from former young lovers, narrates the film. D’Mango decided to move on to Australia in 2013 where he is based up to now as a pastor and restaurateur. 

This September, Netflix will show the Pinoy films Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital, Kontrabida Academy and Voltes V: Legacy. 

Kontrabida Academy stars Barbie Forteza and Eugene Domingo. It follows Gigi (Forteza), whose life is falling apart, so she enrolls in Kontrabida Academy, a school for villains, to learn how to be “bad, bongga, and brave” under the guidance of Mauricia (Domingo). The film is written and directed by Chris Martinez.

Strange Frequencies was an entry in the 2024 Metro Manila Film Festival. 

Seven celebrities explore a decaying, haunted hospital and discover horrors worse than they ever imagined. This is a Filipino edition of a Taiwanese documentary. 

Voltes V: Legacy is based on the Japanese anime TV series of the same title. The film covers footage from the first 15 episodes of the Philippine live-action adaptation TV series of the aforementioned anime, Voltes V: Legacy. The film stars Miguel Tanfelix, Radson Flores, Matt Lozano, Raphael Landicho and Ysabel Ortega.

Strange Frequencies and Voltes V: Legacy are Pinoy adaptations of foreign creative outputs. Filipinos are now also into adapting stage plays and well-read foreign short stories. They are actually reimagined versions. If you never knew their source, foreign literature, you would think they are Pinoy originals. 

If you’d like to see one such filipinization, catch the stage play Karne to be presented by the Far Eastern University (FEU) Theater Guild from 11 September to 8 November at the FEU Center for the Arts Studio in the Engineering Building at FEU Manila. It is based on the very popular Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl. 

Performances are held every Thursday to Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The play is described as “a genre-defying theatrical experience that combines comedy, mystery and a celebration of rural life.”

The play is written and directed by Dudz Teraña, the artistic director of the FEU Theater Guild for about a decade. Teraña used to be with the Philippine Educational Theater Association where he was an actor-teacher in theater workshops.

The Guild has presented its reimagined stage productions in Filipino/Tagalog of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short stories, including the very popular “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World.”