The psychological horror-thriller Deleter stamped out the competition, winning seven of the major awards at the Gabi ng Parangal of the 48th Metro Manila Film Festival on 27 December at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City.
The story of a social media content moderator for a shady online company, Deleter won Best Picture, Best Actress (Nadine Lustre) and Best Director (Mikhail Red), as well as the technical awards for Cinematography, Production Design, Editing and Musical Score.
Red — a son of pioneering alternative filmmaker Raymond Red — is known for ultra-polished thrillers such as 2016's Birdshot (the Philippines' official entry to the Academy Awards' Best Foreign Language Film in 2018) and 2017's Neomanila.
Lustre arrived at the red carpet in a gold ensemble, with a glittering, spelled-out "Deleter" gilded on her nose bridge.
Lester Dimaranan's action-drama Mamasapano: Now It Can Be Told, based on true events surrounding the deaths of 44 Special Action Forces officers in 2015, won Second Best Picture, Best Screenplay (Eric Ramos), Best Original Theme Song and the Fernando Poe Jr. Memorial Award.
Another thriller, the chamber piece Nanahimik Ang Gabi, won Third Best Picture, Best Actor (Ian Veneracion) and Best Supporting Actor (Mon Confiado).
The Best Float, a big tradition in the MMFF that is seen during the Parade of Stars, was awarded to Joel Lamangan's gay love story My Father, Myself — which likewise won Best Supporting Actress (Dimples Romana, who plays the wife of closeted gay man Jake Cuenca).
Vilma Santos-Recto, who arrived in a royal blue suit, received the Marichu Vera-Perez Memorial Award — the equivalent of a lifetime achievement citation. The New Frontier Theater erupted with the standing-ovation of a grateful crowd.
In her speech, Santos said Vera-Perez — the Sampaguita Pictures heiress/producer and supporter of quality films who died in 2020 — was like a second mother to her.
But it was BB Gandanghari who stole the spotlight, walking on the red carpet in a glittering, royal-blue gown, and hosting the awards ceremony with Giselle Sanchez and Cindy Miranda.
Family Matters, the dysfunctional-family weeper from Nuel Naval and Paul Soriano's My Teacher took home one trophy each: the Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award, and the Gender Sensitivity Award, respectively.
However, nothing was given to ABS-CBN's rom-com Labyu with an Accent starring Coco Martin and Jodi Sta. Maria, and Partners in Crime — the first-day, top-grossing slapstick comedy featuring Vice Ganda and Ivana Alawi.
Tag-lined as "Balik Saya," the MMFF is not really about the awards. Bouncing back from pandemic restrictions, the annual holiday-season film fest returned to cinemas nationwide, bringing back crowds of Filipino families.
The local movie industry needs this economic boost.
And for avid movie fans, they simply want to enjoy their movie of choice. Lustre is fully aware of it. At the red carpet, before she was announced Best Actress winner, she quipped: "It doesn't matter if you're number one, two, three… as long as everyone is enjoying the film. That's the only thing that matters to me."