Plot misses the train: 'Home Along Da Riles: Da Reunion' review
A disappointing reunion film raises a bigger question: Have we lost the storytelling craft, originality, and comic intelligence that once defined Philippine entertainment?
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A disappointing reunion film raises a bigger question: Have we lost the storytelling craft, originality, and comic intelligence that once defined Philippine entertainment?
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Mounting a full-length feature based on a classic, beloved '90s sitcom written by a team of gifted writers and largely directed by Johnny Manahan requires grander adventures, deeper conflicts, and bigger laughs while retaining the humor that made the show work.
The television classic Home Along Da Riles was essentially a broad spoof of Home Alone, with Dolphy's Kevin Cosme, a play on Macauley Culkin’s Kevin and Kevin Costner, at the center of a large and chaotic family.
What made the '90s show work was its distinctly Filipino culture, sensibilities, and humor. It remains my second-favorite sitcom of the '90s after Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata. I have not seen the two previous Home Along Da Riles movies, however, so this is my first.
The 2026 Da Reunion, written by Rhandy Reyes, one of the original writers, and Flo Francisco Reyes, and directed by Boy 2 Quizon, feels like a rushed, lazy project. Technically, one gets the sense that the script was written in two hours and the film shot in three days.
The premise is simple: the only daughter in the brood, Bing (Claudine Barretto), shocks the family with the announcement of her engagement. The entire film is anchored on this conflict, which sparks distrust, resentment, and overprotectiveness. Yet it is written so broadly, lacking wit and imaginative ways to thwart the marriage, that the story does not even feel substantial enough for a single sitcom episode.
Bing's wealthy fiancé, Baby Boy (Pepe Herrera), could have been a minefield of comedy because he is obscenely rich and far from the conventional definition of handsome. The running gag is that he is ugly, which is not particularly convincing because Herrera is not ugly. Unlike one of the tambays in the riles, whose mouth looked glued to his nose kind of ugly. Herrera also fails to make the slapstick work, saddled with a cringe-inducing and unfunny characterization.
On another side of the comedy is Nova Villa's Azon, whose limerence and unrequited love for the late Kevin was one of the sitcom's most reliable sources of humor. Here, she is reduced to a seemingly dementia-stricken woman who is physically healthy yet seemingly cannot wait to die and reunite with Kevin.
Apparitions of Kevin Cosme appear from time to time, always shown from behind and never revealing his face, making the ending easy to predict. The rest of the Riles brood merely comments on her condition, leaving one to wonder what the point of it all is.
One conflict involves the impending demolition of the riles, which could have been a major source of drama even for audiences. It represents the loss of the community we loved and the house we grew up with through television. Instead of using this problem as a vehicle for comedy, adventure, and conflict, the film remains fixated on Baby Boy and a series of lazy clichés.
The other beloved cast members are reduced to props, including the unforgettable babaeng walang balakang, Cita Astals, who merely appears as a wedding guest. The film also throws in cameos from content creators for no apparent reason. The Sunog-Baga gang of lovable drunkards is mentioned but never properly utilized for comedy, unlike in the sitcom.
There is also a bizarre side trip involving Smokey Manaloto's Bill in an office setting with an abusive boss played by Gardo Versoza. It feels like another lazy attempt to reinforce the message that family comes first, but it is weak in both execution and humor.
The predictable ending is underwhelming and anticlimactic.
When the end credits rolled, they showed clips from the original sitcom, and that was the only time I laughed. I might as well dig through the internet for old episodes and preserve my memory of what made Home Along Da Riles one of the best sitcoms of its era.
Da Reunion is essentially plotless as a feature film. Fans of the series may enjoy seeing these characters together again in their home along the train tracks, older and reunited for nostalgia's sake. But it lacks the sitcom's signature wit. Its biggest problem is not the absence of Dolphy, but the absence of inspired writing.
Should we simply accept that the '90s are gone for good, along with the era's great stories, smart writing, sharp wit, and much of what made its entertainment so memorable?
