Vetting the MMFF’S best bets

Rhian Ramos and Enzo Marcos in “Saving Sally”

We’re writing this a week before the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) officially unreels on Dec. 25, with the dodgy view in mind of vetting in advance its entries’ comparative prospects of topping the festival’s box office.

That’s a tall order, but let’s see if our hopefully educated guesses will end up on the side of the angels—or embarrassingly bite the dust in a cloud of clumsy cluelessness. Here goes:

First off, in keeping with the year-end festival’s “family-friendly” bent, we feel that “Saving Sally,” which combines animation and live action, would be a natural choice for parents who want to “safely” see a movie with their kids.

Also a probably popular choice would be the comedy flick, “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2,” because viewers would want to greet the New Year with a hearty laugh and cheerful chortle. Also, the original film, which starred Eugene Domingo, was a hit, so one successful film deserves another!

As for film buffs, they would be drawn to the drama, “Kabisera,” because it offers topnotch thespic portrayals from the proven likes of Nora Aunor and Ricky Davao.

The film also tackles controversial issues, so word of mouth could make it a “should see” for enlightened viewers—if it lives up to expectations.

For its part, “Die Beautiful” stands out with its “gender-bender” twist—and the fact that it’s done well in festivals abroad could attract film buffs who want to see for themselves what the citations are all about.

The “millennial” rom-com, “Vince & Kath & James,” is harder to pin down and evaluate. If it turns out to be a good film that’s a worthy representative of its generation, it could click and build up a youthful following.

Another factor is female lead Julia Barretto. She’s been trying to make it stellarly for sometime now, but has failed to make the grade, possibly due to less-than-stellar vehicles. If her MMFF movie is exceptional, and if her fans collectively push it to her advantage, it could be the star-making vehicle she’s been needing all this time.

As for “Seklusyon,” it’s the only thriller-horror film in the festival, and the film type has done well at year-end, so it could emerge as a “sleeper” surprise.

“Oro” is about mining and the environment, and tackles other issues and conflicts as well, so it could appeal more to film buffs.

Finally, “Sunday Beauty Queen” is the film fest’s only full-length documentary, and the film type has tended to appeal mainly to a niche audience. But, the fact that the movie is about OFWs could make it an attractive viewing proposition for at least some of our many overseas workers and their families.

This brisk run-down of plus points indicates that most of the MMFF entries this season have their relative strengths.

All told, however, our hunch is that the more popular films will include “Saving Sally,” “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2,” “Kabisera” and “Seklusyon.”

For our part, however, we aim to watch most, if not all of the “revitalized and refocused” MMFF’s official entries to show our support—and we hope that you will do the same.