The annual Christmas event returns as MMFF 2024 promises ten new Filipino movies deserving of your time and money.
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The Metro Manila Film Festival has always been an institution, both for Philippine cinema and Christmas. Every December 25, Filipino movies take over local movies theaters for two or so weeks as Filipino cinema gets the spotlight over the holidays. And for its 50th edition this 2024, MMFF returns once more with ten new local movies on offer.
Running from December 25, 2024, to January 7, 2025 (with the Gabi ng Parangal happening on December 27), MMFF 2024 promises entries that showcase a variety of genres and stories that appeal to different tastes. And honestly, seeing Filipino movies level up in quality and storytelling is always a win in our book. So, if you’re eyeing to catch one or a few of the films or are just curious to know what’s in store this year, here are the ten movies competing at MMFF 2024.
AND THE BREADWINNER IS…
Vice Ganda in this color grading? Consider us seated. From Jun Robles Lana comes Vice Ganda’s movie comeback with a project unlike any she’s done before. The movie centers on Bambi Salvador, a breadwinner working as an OFW based in Taiwan. She returns to her hometown of Arayat, Pampanga, expecting her dream house to be finished on her birthday. Instead, she returns to see their dilapidated house and a misuse of the money she’s been sending home, leading to friction with her family.
Things get even more complicated when Bambi pretends to be dead in order for her family to receive her insurance worth millions. The movie, which also stars Eugene Domingo, Joel Torre, Gladys Reyes, Jhong Hilario, and Kokoy de Santos, among others, puts the spotlight on the hard work, determination, and selflessness of OFWs, as well as the trials and tribulations many breadwinners go through to provide for their families.
GREEN BONES
Zig Dulay, who directed the MMFF 2023’s Best Picture winner, Firefly, returns to the festival with a new movie that has a decidedly more mature tone. The film follows the story of prisoner Domingo Zamora, played by Dennis Trillo, who is up for parole after being locked up for murder. However, his journey to freedom runs into a roadblock when newly assigned corrections officer Gonzaga, portrayed by Ruru Madrid, works to ensure that Zamora remains behind bars. The twist? It was Zamora who killed Gonzaga’s sister and niece, making things personal in this crime drama.
ISANG HIMALA
Adapting one of Philippine cinema’s most iconic movies is no easy feat. But with the talent behind this MMFF entry, we have our hopes. Isang Himala is a movie musical adaptation (yes, we’re getting a musical in MMFF 2024) of the 2018 theatrical play of the same name, which in itself was based on the 1982 classic Himala (and, fun fact, was also an entry to that year’s MMFF). This take brings viewers back to Baryo Cupang and follows the story of Elsa as she claims to have seen the apparition of the Virgin Mary during a solar eclipse. What follows is a series of events that test the faith and morals of the young girl and the town at large.
What’s interesting about the movie is that quite a few of the play’s actors will be reprising their roles for the movie adaptation, such as Aicelle Santos reprising her role as Elsa. Adding to the movie’s caliber is director Pepe Diokno helming the project with a script he co-wrote with Ricky Lee, who penned Himala.
THE KINGDOM
Filipino movies with interesting premises will always have our attention, such as this MMFF entry. In The Kingdom, the film poses the intriguing idea of a Philippines in an alternate timeline in which the country was never conquered by any colonizer. Directed by Michael Tuviera, the epic historical drama is set in the Kingdom of Kalayaan and centers on Lakan Makisig (Vic Sotto) as he’s thrust into a succession crisis that quickly spirals out of control. A unique setting, quality production design, Vic Sotto in a non-comedic role? Okay, we see you.
STRANGE FREQUENCIES: TAIWAN KILLER HOSPITAL
No MMFF is truly complete without a horror entry, and this movie is one of the two films this year offering just that to viewers. Billed as the Philippines’s first meta found footage horror film, the movie stars Enrique Gil, Jane de Leon, Alexa Miro, MJ Lastimosa, Raf Pineda, and Ryan “Zarckaroo” Azurin as a group of Filipino amateur ghost hunters who explore the notorious Xinglin General Hospital in Tainan. You can probably guess where this is going.
Fun fact; the movie is actually a Filipino adaptation of the 2018 Korean cult hit Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. Adding to the film’s horror credentials is that it’s directed by Erik Matti, the same director who gave us 2016’s Seklusyon.
ESPANTAHO
The slayage from the cast alone, whew. This supernatural horror film from Chito S. Roño brings together Judy Ann Santos and Lorna Tolentino for a story about a mother and daughter who become entangled in complicated and morally challenging situations involving married men.
HOLD ME CLOSE
Carlo Aquino, Julia Barretto, and director Jason Paul Laxamana team up once more in this MMFF entry with a fantasy twist. In the movie, we follow Woody, a man who has spent seven years traveling the world to find a place to settle. His adventures bring him to Japan, where he meets Lynlyn. She has the special ability to tell if a certain person will cause happiness or harm to her by touching them. What starts as a platonic relationship turns deeper as the two discover if they really are meant for each other.
MY FUTURE YOU
Francine Diaz and Seth Fedelin star in their very first movie together as a love team, and it involves dating apps and time travel. From director Crisanto B. Aquino comes the story of Karen and Lex, two young adults who seemingly hit it off when they connect on an online dating app. But when they decide to meet in person, they realize they’re on two different timelines, with Karen in 2024 and Lex in 2009. It turns out that their connection was possible thanks to a passing comet. Now, the two must work together to change the past for their love to meet in the present.
TOPAKK
This action drama by Richard Somes is actually no stranger to the festival circuit, with the movie previously being screened at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in May 2023 and premiered at the 76th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland in August 2023. Now, the film is making its Philippine theatrical debut at MMFF 2024. Arjo Atayde and Julia Montes star in this thriller about a former special forces operative (Atayde) with PTSD who tries to rescue a woman (Montes) who is being hunted by a corrupt police death squad affiliated with a drug cartel.
UNINVITED
Talk about a true mother and father off. From director Dan Villegas comes this drama starring acting heavyweights Vilma Santos, Nadine Lustre, and Aga Mulach in a joint slay for the ages. It follows the story of Eva Candelaria, a mother who seeks revenge on a billionaire named Guilly for killing her daughter. Disguised, she attends his party with a vengeful plan that we can’t wait to see unfold. The intrigue is intriguing. Produced by Project 8 and Mentorque Productions (the people behind MMFF 2023’s 3rd Best Picture Mallari), this will be their second collaboration after Cinemalaya entry Kono Basho.
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