From drama to comedy, here are all the MMFF 2025 films to catch
MANILA, Philippines – The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is gearing up for another festive return to cinemas this December, with a fresh lineup of eight Filipino films set to premiere nationwide.
Marking its 51st year, the annual festival continues its mission of championing homegrown storytelling and spotlighting Filipino creativity on the big screen. This year’s slate features a mix of dramas, comedies, sequels, and socially grounded stories, offering something for every moviegoer heading to the theaters over the holidays.
The 2025 MMFF runs from December 25, 2025, until early January 2026 at hundreds of theaters across the country.
Here’s a rundown of the eight official entries you can catch this Christmas season.
Call Me Mother
Produced by ABS-CBN Film Productions Incorporaated, The Idea First Company, and Viva Communications Incorporated, Call Me Mother is a comedy-drama that will tug at the heartstrings. Starring Vice Ganda as Twinkle and Nadine Lustre as Mara, the film centers on a single queer mother whose dream of officially adopting her son faces a setback when the boy’s biological mother unexpectedly appears.
Call Me Mother is directed and co-written by Jun Robles Lana, with the screenplay written by Daisy G. Cayanan and Daniel S. Saniana.
Rekonek
Directed by Jade Castro, Rekonek follows six families whose lives are thrown off balance after an unexpected global internet outage. With their screens suddenly rendered useless, they’re forced to confront their own relationships and rediscover what it means to connect beyond the digital world.
As each family navigates the chaos of an offline holiday season, the film reminds us of love and forgiveness, bonding in traditional ways, and the small yet meaningful acts that define a Filipino Christmas.
The family drama stars Gerald Anderson — who is also the film’s producer — along with Charlie Dizon, Gloria Diaz, Carmina Villaroel, Andrea Brillantes, and Zoren Legaspi.
Manila’s Finest
Set during the turmoil of the 1970s, Manila’s Finest follows Lt. Homer Magtibay (Piolo Pascual) — a seasoned and principled cop — along with a band of policemen as they uncover killings in the slums of a Manila knee-deep in crime and political unrest.
Produced by MQuest Ventures and Cignal, Manila’s Finest is a crime thriller directed by Rae Red and written by Michiko Yamamoto and Moira Lang. The film stars Piolo Pascual, Enrique Gil, and Cedrick Juan.
Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins
Filipino horror comeback? Count us in.
Regal Entertainment offers a new twist in the new Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins movie with a plot taking us across three different time periods: 1775, where a murder of four women takes place after receiving a strange chest from a Spanish ship; 2025, where a serial killer lurks among partygoers; and finally, in 2050, where the Aswang rules a post-apocalyptic Philippines.
Janice de Belen and Manilyn Reynes return in Evil Origins, joined by Ivana Alawi, Richard Gutierrez, Ashley Ortega, Carla Abellana, and Francine Diaz.
The film is directed by Shugo Praico, Joey de Guzman, and Ian Loreños.
I’mPerfect
Earl Amaba and Krystel Go take on the roles of Jiro and Jessica, two adults with Down syndrome, in a romance drama produced by Nathan Studios Incorporated. The film follows a gentle and hopeful love story that blossoms between the characters as they fall in love and navigate what love and freedom truly mean. When Jessica passes away, Jiro is left holding on to the memories they built.
Directed by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, I’mPerfect is a touching film to catch in cinemas this Christmas.
Love You So Bad
Starring Will Ashley, Dustin Yu, and Bianca de Vera, Love You So Bad is this year’s Gen Z romance drama from ABS-CBN Film Productions, GMA Pictures, and Regal Entertainment.
The film, directed by Mae Cruz-Alviar, follows Savannah (Bianca de Vera), a sassy and confident college senior who soon finds herself caught in a love triangle with LA (Dustin Yu), the impulsive “bad boy” who fuels her wild side, and Vic (Will Ashley), the principled achiever who pushes her to confront parts of herself she’d rather steer clear of.
As the stakes in her life get higher, Savannah must decide who she will dare with.
UnMarry
Angelica Panganiban and Zanjoe Marudo team up for UnMarry, a drama produced by Quantum Films and CINEKO Productions.
The film follows Celine, who is seeking an annulment from her husband while fighting for custody of their daughters, and Ivan, a father desperate to save his marriage and keep his family together.
With their lives suddenly intersecting at a law office, Celine and Ivan develop an unlikely friendship; one that helps mend old wounds and consider the possibility of finding love yet again.
UnMarry is directed by Jeffrey Jeturian.
Bar Boys: After School
Set a decade after the events of the first film, the sequel revisits a group of friends and asks the question many coming-of-age stories tend to skip: What happens after the dream?
With law school long behind them, friends Erik, Christian, Joshua and Torren contend with professional fatigue, personal setbacks, and the gap between their past ambitions and the lives they lead.
The drama stars Carlo Aquino, Rocco Nacino, Enzo Pineda, Kean Cipriano, Will Ashley, Glaiza de Castro, Klarisse de Guzman, Therese Malvar, Sassa Gurl, Emilio Daez, and Ms. Odette Khan.
The film, a sequel to Bar Boys (2017), is directed by Kip Oebanda and produced by 901 Studios.
With the theme “A New Era for Philippine Cinema,” the MMFF is rolling out several new touches this year, starting with its first-ever Parade of Stars held in Makati on December 19.
Also ahead of the festival’s opening week was a celebrity golf tournament at Wack Wack Golf & Country Club last Tuesday, December 9.
The Metro Manila Film Festival officially runs from December 25 through early January 2026. The awards ceremony, Gabi ng Parangal, will take place on Saturday, December 27. – Angel Baleña/Rappler.com
Angel Baleña is a Rappler intern studying Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines Diliman.
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