Watch these Filipino films on Netflix. We promise you. You’ll thanks us later.
A lot of Filipino films have been making its rounds on Netflix ever since Mikhail Red’s Birdshot made its mark on the streaming service in 2018*. But we couldn’t help but notice how this year’s turning out to be the best in terms of streaming films online since we literally don’t have any choice.
No worries, we’ll feature films you can stream on YouTube sometime before the year ends. But in this list you will find titles that have already streamed on the platform at the start of this month, and ones that will preview in the weeks to come. Can you sense our excitement as we publish this in the wee hours of the morning? I hope you do because these by far are one of the best films to stream before the year ends.
(list in no particular order, and includes the date it premieres in PH time)
KALEL ’15
Director Jun Lana always finds a way to showcase unscathed stories on the issues surrounding LGBTQ+ . From Die Beautiful and now to Kalel ’15, invoking yet another breathtaking performance from Elijah Canlas, get yourself ready to be enthralled by beautiful monochromatic images that are pieced together by brilliant performances and a story arch that encapsulates how the youth continues to survive and how families try to reconcile with the truth.
Check out the fb page for Kalel ’15 for more info.
ISA PA WITH FEELINGS (DEC.25)
It’s going to be a wonderful Christmas morning for all of us as our Top Film of 2019 makes its way to Netflix. Maine Mendoza shines alongside Carlo Aquino in this Black Sheep Productions film written and directed by our pod-favorites’ Prime Cruz and Jen Chuaunsu. An aspiring architect looses the will to pursue her passions meets an unlikely inspiration in her neighbor who is deaf. She begins to uncover a world that might be similar to hers, drawing the audience to empathize towards a world that we might not always be familiar with.
Listen to us dissect the film with the filmmakers here:
LOVE YOU TO THE STARS AND BACK (Dec. 17)
There was a time when JoshLia was a thing, and as part of an unnamed “Love Team Cinematic Universe” in our minds whenever Antoinette Jadaone made films with this generations’ LT, Love You To The Stars and Back delivered Joshua Garcia and Julia Barretto’s love team out of the teensy-bitsy image that Star Cinema put them into. A road trip film that has carved out two paths of two polar-opposite characters that seem to be driven from the formula that Star Cinema has set for their romcoms, but still allowed Jadaone to provide a reprieve for her characters to transform freely.
PATAY NA SI HESUS (JESUS IS DEAD) Dec. 20
Friend of the pod Victor Villanueva still laments his sense of humor at times, prepondering whether people get it or not. Well the truth is, it’s a charming appeal that has transcended in the ways he directed the script for ‘Patay na si Hesus’ (Jesus is Dead), which was written by Fatrick Tabada and Moira Lang. He’s not the worst, even Brilliante Mendoza agrees that he is definitely funny.
You can listen to our fun episode with him and another Worst filmmaker here:
Patay na si Hesus deals with a grieving ex-wife and her three kids as they go on a road trip in Cebu. Look out for the pungko-pungko and some incredible product placements like the Ultra Wide TV.
BALANGIGA: HOWLING WILDERNESS (Dec. 20)
Is this a film by Khavn? How is it not a film by Khavn? Regardless of our questions, Balangiga swept major awards during its run with a purpose. See it once again (it was also part of this year’s QCinema International Film Festival reruns ) as it premieres on Netflix this December 20th.
While you’re at it, listen to one of our favorite Third World Cinema episode featuring Khavn dela Cruz here:
THE PANTI SISTERS (Dec. 10)
Three gay sons are called back by their estranged and terminally-ill father and given an offer they can’t refuse: P300million inheritance in exchange for each of them giving him a grandchild. Quite far from the usual gay-comedy themed Filipino films with incredulous antics is Jun Lana’s The Panti Sisters, starring Martin del Rosario, Paolo Ballesteros, and Christian Bables. It’s out now on Netflix.
GAMEBOYS LEVEL-UP EDITION (Dec. 30)
Caimazing and Angel2000 are finally headed to Netflix!!!! The Pinoy Boys Love that took our quarantine lives by storm is finally getting it’s Netflix treatment on December 30. This edition will feature some never before seen scenes of the Caireel loveteam and many mooore!
Need a little guide to orient you on this edition of Gameboys? Listen to our exclusive interview with Caireel and director Ivan Payawal (with the help of our very own Kayo Jolongbayan) here:
HELLO, LOVE GOODBYE (Dec. 24)
Drumroll please!
Kathniel and Kathryn fans out there rejoice! The highest grossing Filipino film of all time (P881 million as of Sept.2019) will be gracing the small screen globally on Netflix. Arguably one of Alden Richards’ best performance to date, he shares the screen alongside TV darling Kathryn Bernardo in a love story about OFWs working in Hongkong’s hustlin’ and bustlin’ streets. Enjoy your Christmas morning dear darlings as the film streams this December 24.
Check out the trailer here:
APOCALYPSE CHILD (Dec. 20)
The film that made us want to listen to UDD’s Young Again over and over and over again. Get ready to watch one of Philippine Cinema’s finest film of the decade this December 20. Directed by Mario Cornejo, written alongside Monster Jimenez, Apocalypse Child follows the legend of how surfing was introduced to Baler during the shooting of the film Apocalypse, Now. Along with this legend was rumors of a lovechild between the film’s director, Francis Ford Coppola, and a resident. The latter rumor is of course fictional, but the result is the intertwined lives that surround the popularity of Ford, played by the brilliant Sid Lucero. Watch the trailer below:
SAKALING MAGING TAYO (Dec. 17)
In this film by JP Habac, two college freshmen play a game of dare on their last day of school which eventually allows them to confront their issues, and perhaps a budding romance. McCoy and Elisse deliver stellar performances in this light romance drama. Streams on Netflix this December 17.
ZOMBADINGS: PATAYIN SA SHOKOT SI REMINGTON (REMINGTON AND THE CURSE OF THE ZOMBADINGS, Dec. 20)
The film that reconciled mainstream and indie audiences together during the early ‘noughts is finally streaming on Netflix to a wider global audience! Zombadings: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington had undergone a couple of transformations before it became the blockbuster film that it was. Perhaps with the help of Aureaus Solito’s Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros, Zombadings allowed characters to discuss the transformation of one’s identity with acceptance. Directed by Jade Castro, starring Martin Escudero, Lauren Young, Kerbie Zamora, and Janice de Belen, as well as a stellar supporting performance from Roderick Paulate and John Regala. Streams this December 20.
BWAKAW (Dec.16)
Eddie Garcia plays a man in his 70s who cares for a stray dog. As a closeted gay, he realizes that it might be too late for him to find love or companionship as his days are now dedicated to meeting Death. But as he prepares for the inevitable, a stray dog wanders around his house in which he renames as Bwakaw. This film was selected as the Filipino entry to the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2012, but it did not make the shortlist. Get ready to bawl your eyes out as Bwakaw streams on Netflix this December 16.
BETWEEN MAYBES (Dec. 3)
A former actress decides to go to Japan to escape the pressures of her life in the Philippines, meets another Filipino who has already accustomed himself to the simplicity of Japanese living. Let’s see if there’s something more than the controversy that surrounds the two leads as it still streams on Netflix as of this writing.
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