2019 #MustWatchFilipinoMovies

Before the year ends and before the MMFF 2019 begin here's our list of "Must Watch Filipino Movies in 2019" in no particular order.

A. John Denver Trending

Named as 2019 Cinemalaya Best Film. 

A story of a boy who's a victim of a trending video on facebook about bullying. Condez' effectively shown the audience the impact of misjudgment and bullying. Soriano, who played the mother to the lead actor, Jansen Magpusao was very effective. The newcomer, Magpusao was named the Best Actor of the festival.

B. Sila - Sila

Sila-Sila, a simple film about our connection to the people around us. The movie doesn't have the usual big confrontational scene, yet you'll find yourself noding in almost every scene. Though the lead characters are gay, it still resonate across all genders and that is the magic of Sila-Sila.
The cast gave an outstanding performance Gio Gahol, Topper Fabregas and Writer/Director Dwein Baltazar stood out.
The movie was able to bagged both Audience Choice Award and Best Picture in the 15th Cinema One Originals, Topper Fabregas also won the Best Supporting Actor Award! If you're looking for something new Sila-Sila is the movie for you.

C. Metamorphosis

The coming-of-age movie Metamorphosis won numerous awards in the 15th Cinema One Originals including Best Director: Writer/Director Jose Enrique Tiglao, and Best Actor : Golden Azeron.
The movie was about an intersex kid who discovered different things in life and what really matter in the end.
The storyline was well written by its writer/director, it was an eye-opener to people that doesn't have any idea that intersex exist. The cinematography was beautifully done by Tey Clamor who also bagged the trophy for that category.
It has a simple narrative with a powerful message.

D. Isa Pa With Feelings

The movie was about Gali and Mara. At first, you might see the film as a regular love story if you base it from the title or the trailer itself, however the entire film will surprise you.
Maine Mendoza was a revelation on this film. She might not win an acting award on this, but still she deserved any nomination for her performance, cause she was really effective as Mara.
I love how the film showed the audience the flaw of each characters and how the movie immersed us on Gali's condition.
The movie was truthful enough to its title feelings because they'd let you feel how to be deaf.
Isa Pa With Feelings is a movie that you will still remember even after a year or two. It is an instant classic.
Not to mention the cinematography, sound and production design.

E. INDAK

Indak is an underrated Filipino movie this year. Indak has a lot to offer, that most of us simply ignore.
The movie followed the story of Jen, a simple island girl who loves dancing. The movie showed us the journey she had in chasing her dream to become a well known dancer.
The movie taught us on how to have your own identity and how you could do better everyday.
Nadine Lustre once again proved her acting prowess, not to mention her danced to an upbeat music on her high heels.

F. ELISE

Who said love stories were overrated? Well, not for Elise.

Elise has its own magic that will keep you think about it. After watching the film, all your thoughts was her, Elise.

It followed the life story of Bert and his childhood sweetheart Elise. And how they lived their simple dream of being together while eating their favorite food.

What made it on our list, was its simplicity and its truthfulness. The film taught us that, if you received love you have to pass it on.

G. My Letters to Happy

My Letters to Happy gained a perfect score of 10/10 on our past movie review.
The movie was about mental health particularly bipolar 1&2, and depression, and how to deal and care for them.
We said it before and we'll say it once again, My Letters to Happy was something deserved to be seen and heard.
Yes, the condition is real and their story does exist.

H. ULAN

Ulan, a magical-realism film.
The movie Ulan, followed the story of Maya as a kid and as an adult. As a kid same as Maya we were imaginative, jolly and playful as she aged, life took those qualities away from her.
She's a hopeless romantic, her thoughts about love was rooted from what her grandmother taught her. She looked for love everywhere and to different guys, not knowing that the love that she's looking for was always with her.
Ulan taught us the importance of self-love or loving yourself.
Both Nadine Lustre and Carlo Aquino won Best Actress and Actor respectively in the regional category of The Asian Academy Creative Awards 2019. Its director Irene Villamor also bagged the Best Director Award and Best Screenplay Award. The Cinematographer Neil Daza won the Best Cinematography Award.

I. Finding You

The movie talked about a condition called : hyperthymesia. Hyperthymesia is a condition wherein an individual possessed a superior autobiographical memory. Meaning he/she remembered everything down to the smallest details of each day. Imagine, what happens if he cannot remember a memory on his past? That was Nel's (Jerome Ponce) quest, to find out what happened and who was that girl.
The beauty of this film was with its superior visuals such as color, visuals and production design. The narrative will keep you guessing on what really happened back on those days that he cannot remember.

Finding You, was Easy Ferrer's directorial debut, and he nailed it.

J. Tayo Sa Huling Buwan Ng Taon

Tayo Sa Huling Buwan Ng Taon a film by Nestor Abrogena, a sequel to the movie "Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa".
It followed the story of Sam and Isa who have lived seperate lives after their break-up. Now there's additional characters such as Alex boyfriend of Isa and Anna, Sam's girlfriend.
The movie showed us, how our decisions affect us, and the people around us. The strength of the film was its parallelism, symbolism and its metaphor packed in a captivating cinematography, color and sound.
The actors did great on their individual scenes. Anna Luna, who played Anna need not to utter a lot of dialogues cause her eyes was enough for you to understand her. Alex Medina who played Alex was also a great addition as he was mentioned on its predecesor. He added spice on Isa and Sam's story Vera and Nicco Manalo respectively.
The movie taught us, that if we knew someone we knew them for the rest of our lives, and what's bound to happen will happen.

K. LSS

They said its a Ben&Ben Movie, but we see it more of an inspirational movie. Songs of Ben&Ben alone was already inspirational, plus the storyline, LSS was really something good!
It followed the passion of Sarah P. played by Gabby Garcia for music. The struggle from a nobody in the music industry turning into something big!
We love how Zack played by Khalil Ramos gave all out support to his girlfriend Sarah in achieving her dream.
Sometimes all we need is just one voice, among all the noise around us saying we can never make it, we just need to listen to that one voice that trust us that we can make that dream come true. That is Zack to Sarah and Sarah to Zack.
LSS bagged Audience Choice Award in the 3rd Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino, Special Jury Prize, Best Original Theme Song: Araw Araw by Ben&Ben, Best Sound Design by Aurel Bilbao & Arnel M. Labayo.
You can still catch them on iFlix for free.

L. Eerie

Eerie, the first horror film on our list. What sets Eerie apart from other Filipino horror flick was the tone.
Eerie started out not as strong as any other film but because of the rave they received it ended well on the box office.
Being a Mikhail Red film, it has something on it may it social, political or both. As for Eerie it tackled almost all aspects of life, but the big chunk of it has something to do with mental health awareness and sexual preferrences and bullying.
Our actions toward an unlikely incident or behaviour will always have a big impact to the people around us.

M. Just A Stranger

Just A Stranger, a film by Jason Paul Laxamana. The movie offered a different take on love and infidelity. Though, some of you might see it as merely infidelity, but if you happen to see the film you would understand the depth of it. Love can sometimes be foolish, but at the same time full of life.
We agreed that this was the best performance by an actress of Ms. Anne Curtis more than those steamy and provocative scenes both Anne Curtis and Marco Gumabao fave spectacular performances specially on their confrontational scenes. While watching the movie you'll find yourself laughing with them and at times root for them more than the legal spouse. Towards the end we felt as if we were drowning as if there's something on our throat that we can't release. A proof that this movie resonate to us.

N. Edward

This film talked about time, youth, innocence, love and friendship.
Louise Abuel is a natural chamer as well as Elijah Canlas they played the role of Edward and Renz respectively. They're friends staying at a hospital and sometimes bet on a person's survival rate.
Edward has a lasting effect that you can still feel after leaving the cinema.
The movie bagged several awards in the 15th Cinemalaya including Best Supporting Actress for Ella Cruz, Best Production Design and Special Jury Prize.

O. Cuddle Weather

The movie was about prostitution, rather the life of a prostitute. It is also a love story. Almost all of us wanted to be touched, caressed and have someone to cuddle with, and that was the movie all about. It was also an eye-opener to some. When we saw a hooker at the street we thought we knew them, because they're a hooker, but what we missed out was the fact that they were also human like us wanted to be seen, heard and be loved.
The chemistry between Sue Ramirez and Rk Bagatsing was undeniable and they gave an outstanding performance. If you want to laugh, love and be refreshed we highly recommend this movie.

P. Dead Kids

Another Mikhail Red film, Dead Kids. The movie was inspired by true events. It followed the story of Sta. Maria who was involved in the abduction of their classmate Chuck.
The message was there loud and clear. The movie talked about how ill and disfunctional our society is, packed with spectacular perfomances, visuals and relatable storyline. The movie is still available on Netflix world wide! Also, it is a Netflix original film shown exclusively on the platform.

Q. MARIA

Some would agree that Maria was our female version of John Wick.
A hired killer trying to rebuild her life far from her old path. Maria saw herself fighting for her life once again, triggered by Caleb who brutally murdered her husband and daughter. Exhilirating action-packed movie. The routines were a little bit faster than that of Buy Bust.
Maria is still available worldwide on Netflix.


And that's a wrap for this year's top list for must watch Filipino movies. Again, they're in no particular order.

Happy Holidays!