‘The Ugly Stepsister’ is a bold social commentary on how women are not born with a criterion for perfection in mind, but instead are deliberately instilled for ages.

‘Call Me Mother’ demonstrates that motherhood transcends gender and is not defined by birth or blood. It comes in many forms, each leaving a meaningful impact on a child’s life.

‘Unmarry’ by Jeffrey Jeturian explores annulment as a grueling negotiation with law, memory, and selfhood. Anchored by strong performances, the film is restrained, compassionate, and at times, heartbreaking.

At the end of the day, I would have loved for ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins’ to explore more of colonial horror and how it haunts generations, but it barely gives us anything to work with.

The Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video, commonly referred to as Gawad Alternatibo, remains a testament to the enduring power of alternative cinema as a space for voices that push, question, and reimagine. Across narrative, experimental, documentary, and animation short films, this year’s lineup brings together works that move away from familiar formulas and instead sit with stories that are often overlooked, uneasy, or hard to pin down. These films are grounded in lived experience, shaped by personal, political, and social realities, and made with an intent to question how stories are usually told. For 37 years, the Gawad Alternatibo continues to champion alternative filmmaking as a form of resistance.

‘Bar Boys: After School’ follows former dreamers who have already crossed the finish line they once chased, only to find themselves facing a different kind of uncertainty. Ten years pass, and the film places licensed lawyers beside struggling students, showing how ambition does not vanish with success but takes a new shape. The film carries familiar lives forward and opens the story into a reflection on fatigue, compromise, and a form of hope that persists within a system that fails to meet people halfway.

‘Manila’s Finest’s’ posturing of a distinct personal experience during a pivotal moment in Philippine history belies a more minutely bleak, complex, and gut-churning deconstructive narrative.

Krystel Go and Earl Jonathan Amaba lead with charm in this romantic film, where two persons with Down Syndrome find love and grow up. ‘I’MPERFECT’ roots for them like we do, but tells their story while holding our hands more than it needs to.

Even the endearing performances of Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, along with their undeniable chemistry, are not enough to rescue ‘The History of Sound’ from being a dull period drama. It is such a pity that it was wasted by a very boring execution.

Overall, the story of Leon Le’s ‘Ky Nam Inn’ is beautifully executed with such care for Vietnam's culture and history.

Sana Sinabi Mo’ proves that love and religion are a game of tug-of-war. Even when faith tests loyalty, love persists across time and distance.

Pelikultura: The CALABARZON Film Festival returns for its 2025 run with new stories and forms of storytelling about Southern Tagalog. The festival is more than a celebration of Southern Tagalog’s pride and diversity, but also a reminder of how cinema is a form of resistance that mirrors the lived realities of the people living in the region. ST Shorts Premiere and #BuhayElbi are the festival's main highlights, highlighting stories about the region as well as homegrown storytellers from Los Baños, where the festival started. Pelikultura continues to become a platform for regional filmmakers and a catalyst for driving regional cinema representation.

Kelly Reichardt’s ‘The Mastermind’ is a quiet, subversive take on an art heist film that never feels tensionless, anchored by a stellar performance from Josh O’Connor.

The 5th Oroquieta Film Festival made an impactful comeback after a three-year hiatus, providing the big screen to stories from Misamis Occidental and nearby regions. The Lumayagan and Habagatan shorts became the highlight of the festival, projecting films about pressing social issues, the rich culture of Misamis Occidental, Mindanao, and Visayas, and the power of transformative media education, and the dreams of the young filmmakers.

The 15th run of the Binisaya Film Festival continues to pride itself as a cultural hotspot for both Bisaya and global cinema. With a roster of films that are at once surreal, sociopolitically aware, and deeply tender, the festival highlights a talented community of filmmakers and a Bisaya movement that is truly alive.

In one of 2025’s best films, ‘Sentimental Value’ illuminates the unseen costs of creating art and the debt it owes to lived experience. At the same time, it reveals how much of what we hope to express is often suppressed, either in favor of grander gestures or in service of our fears. Some things are simply too difficult to talk about, let alone explain in different languages.

‘The Treasure Hunter’ is an out of touch documentary about a British man trying to live out his imperial fantasies in the Philippines. He wants to find Yamashita’s gold so he can ‘live the high life,’ suspiciously sounding like a 16th century conquistador.

‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ may not be a home run for Jarmusch’s return to feature films, but it still offers his own thoughtful take on estranged families from different parts of the world, even if it could have achieved more.

A surrealistic, twisty and humorous look on Thailand’s memory as a nation. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke's ‘A Useful Ghost’ is a household task in introspect through the society’s past memories, the present society and the looming dystopian future.

While ‘Keeper’ isn’t a bad frightfest of a time at the cinema, containing a potent mix of intriguing visual ideas and commanding atmosphere, it’s also a signifier that Osgood Perkins has further ways to go in expanding the breadth of his elusivity in this more ‘pop’ framework.