Welcome to What to Watch Right Now, our weekly rundown of the best things to watch right now. The constant stream of shows, videos, and films to watch online can become a sludge to wade through, so here are a few things you can watch courtesy of the Rolling Stone Philippines team. Whether it’s a new film, a video essay, or even a home video release you should own, we hope it can ease the burden of choosing which streaming platform to use or of discovering a new cinematic odyssey.
This week, new releases such as Sisa, the Hilda Koronel-led historical thriller directed by Jun Robles Lana, had us making our way to our nearest cinemas. But it also had us thinking about one of its standout co-stars, Eugene Domingo, pushing us to revisit some of her earlier works, such as Ang Tanging Ina and Here Comes the Bride. And for those still thinking about Wuthering Heights (because that horny mess has, for better or worse, left a permanent mark on our souls), please turn to Hihintayin Kita sa Langit, an arguably more faithful (and Filipino) take on the Gothic classic.
‘Sisa’
Two hours of intrigue, revenge, and women trying to survive a war they didn’t ask for
There are many reasons why the women of Sisa have been pushed to their limit. A new batch of white, angry colonizers has taken their husbands, sons, and fathers away from them. Their village has been turned into a concentration camp. The aforementioned colonizers promised them freedom, but have also forced them to work as their unpaid servants. If anything, they should have led an uprising against the Americans much sooner.
But the women of the village need a leader, and this comes in the form of the stoic and slightly unhinged Sisa (Hilda Koronel). Slowly, Sisa begins to convince the women that the only real course of action against the Americans is bloodshed. She also shows them that anyone standing in their way of vengeance, Filipino or otherwise, should be dealt with by any means necessary.
Although the revenge plot within Sisa is definitely one of its strongest points, it’s also more than compelling enough to watch the all-female main ensemble show off their acting chops as women struggling to find a sense of normalcy during wartime. Eugene Domingo knows exactly how to switch from nagging mother to converted rebel in a heartbeat. Jennica Garcia strikes a balance as a woman caught between two allegiances. And Hilda Koronel keeps a watchful eye on all of them, carrying all her grief, hatred, and rage in just one look. —Mel Wang
‘Hihintayin Kita sa Langit’
A romantic Filipino take on a gothic classic
Regardless of how you feel about Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights (personally, I felt that it was an affront to the source material and to the feminist movement), I think we can all agree that Emily Brontë’s novel is difficult to translate to a screenplay. So Carlitos Siguion-Reyna offers a loose adaptation in the 1991 romance Hihintayin Kita sa Langit.
As with many other adaptations, Brontë’s gothic edges here are buffed almost to nil, but Hihintayin Kita sa Langit is still a feast for the eyes. Richard Gomez is a sight to behold as the Heathcliff-adjacent Gabriel Salvador. No man has ever looked as good on camera as he did, tearfully carrying Dawn Zulueta’s Carmina to a bougainvillea-framed balcony, where the two professed their love to one another. Batanes also adds to the film’s melodramatic character, all rolling hills and wind, which, I concede, is all a Wuthering Heights adaptation needs. —Pie Gonzaga
‘Here Comes the Bride’
Finally, a wedding comedy that queer people could enjoy
What’s worse than a Freaky Friday? A five-way Freaky Friday on your wedding day. In Chris Martinez’s 2010 comedy Here Comes the Bride, bashful bride Stephanie (Angelica Panganiban), feisty lawyer Precy (Eugene Domingo), nanny Medelyn (Tuesday Vargas), sickly Lolo Bien (Jaime Fabregas), and the catty, ill-tempered stylist Toffee (John Lapus) all get into a car crash during a solar eclipse that magically mixes up their souls. While they’re all determined to switch back into their own bodies, Toffee’s adamant to continue living as Stephanie, who’s getting married to the super hot Harold (Tom Rodriguez).
The pseudoscience that Here Comes the Bride operates on doesn’t have to make sense for one to enjoy the film. As Panganiban embodies the “babaeng bakla” in Stephanie, Lapus perfectly captures the vibe of a heterosexual geriatric made virile once more in the body of a younger gay man. If you still can’t imagine what that looks like, the full movie is available to watch for free on ABS-CBN Star Cinema’s official YouTube channel. —Pie Gonzaga
‘Ang Tanging Ina’
The classic story of a woman making ends meet for her family takes an absurd turn
It’s not a spoiler to say that all three of Ina Montecillo’s (Ai-Ai delas Alas in her most iconic role) husbands die within the first 10 minutes of the film, but the whole sequence is still hilarious after over two decades. This film has so many moments of absurdity that they’re still branded in my brain: Rowena (Eugene Domingo) running a bus company in a punk rock outfit, Ina working in a construction site while Chona Cruz’s Working Girls theme plays in the background, Ina’s wrists bleeding from handwashing too much clothes (she has a dozen children, after all), and the iconic lata scene of Ina walking along EDSA, which is, all at once, a commentary on public transportation, the state of the economy, and the casual violence that women endure on the daily.
Wenn Deramas’ seminal motherhood film is classic for a reason. The story of a mother making ends meet for her family has been a fixture in Philippine cinema (the fact that they’ve spoofed quite a few of them here says a lot, from Madrasta, Anak to Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa?), but what Ang Tanging Ina did was inject a fresh breath of air and turned Ina into the quintessential Filipino mother of the 2000s. The film sizzles with Deramas’ trademark energy: every scene comes with a joke, pop-cultural touchpoints are referenced, and there’s an undeniable star power to his actors. Ai-Ai may have established herself as the comedic villain to beat in Booba, but Ang Tanging Ina was the testament that she could shoulder a film on her own. —Don Jaucian
