The whole movie is brilliantly conceived by Chris Martinez and superbly executed by debuting director Marlon Rivera. They really know what viewers will find funny then they deliver their jokes with perfect comic timing. There are just so many laugh-out-loud scenes, what with young actors JM de Guzman and Kean Cipriano, as the enthusiastic young filmmakers who want to make a movie about poverty starring Eugene in it, also giving energetic and likeable performances. They deserve to best actor nominations. The sequence in the coffee shop where they make fun of how another filmmaker murders the English language (then the filmmaker himself comes along and makes a fool of himself) is absolute delight. And the sequence where they visit Eugene in her home for a private meeting and she does a great example of self parody is pure joy.
Some scenes in the film they’re making (it shows the lead character feeding noodles to her five kids inside their shack and then selling one child to a pedophile) are presented over and over again: first as the way they originally envision it, then as a gritty documentary, then as a musical (this blew us away, including Eugene’s singing- thanks to the witty original songs written by Vincent de Jesus) and as a personal drama with narration by Eugene herself and casual plugs of her endorsements. This movie will win awards not only in Cinemalaya but come next year’s award-giving derbies. That’s how good it is. It certainly deserves a wider theatrical release nationwide.
