MMFF 2025 announces all eight official entries

THE LINEUP OF FILMS competing at the 51st Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is locked in. The last four films have been announced at the University of Makati, yesterday, October 12th. The first four films were announced in July this year.

This year's MMFF carries "A New Era for Philippine Cinema" as its theme, featuring visions like Sigrid Bernardo's I'mPerfect, described as a 'social romance' between two individuals with Down syndrome. Jade Castro's Rekonek is a multi-narrative film about Filipinos navigating Christmastime without internet. And Manila's Finest — not to be confused with the 2015 B-movie of the same name — marks Raymond Red's auspicious return to film, a dark thriller-procedural that looks into dissenting students' strange disappearances in 1970s.

(Worth noting: I was sure that at one point Manila's Point had Rae Red for directing credit, but not complaining! It has been ten years since Raymond's last film, Mga Rebeldeng May Kaso.)

It won't be MMFF without its staples: We're getting another SRR film, with Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins, which seems like it will take place in three different time periods. Kip Oebanda's Bar Boys: After School is a sequel to the 2017 sleeper hit starring Carlo Aquino, Rocco Nacino, and more. And there's also Jun Lana's Call Me Mother, a dramedy about motherhood starring Vice Ganda and Nadine Lustre.

Read on for the full list of MMFF 2025 entries.

Call Me Mother

Jun Lana directs this star vehicle with Vice Ganda and Nadine Lustre in a dramedy about motherhood following a feud between adoptive mother who is a transwoman and the biological kid.

Manila's Finest

Directing a screenplay written by Moira Lang, Sherad Sanchez, and Michiko Yamamoto, Raymond Red returns to the big screen with a dark, '70s period police procedural starring Piolo Pascual that sheds light on students mysteriously disappearing amid political turmoil.

Rekonek

An estranged family tries to reconnect beyond screens during Christmas without internet. Jade Castro leads an ensemble cast featuring Gerald Anderson, Carmina Villaroel, Zoren Legaspi, and more in this multi-narrative film.

Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins

Back for another year, the seventeenth volume of three-pack horror featurettes feature stories spanning centuries being set in different time periods ("1775," "2025," and "2050"). The films are directed by Shugo Praico, Joey De Guzman, and Ian Loreños, respectively.

Bar Boys: After School

In this "grown-up" sequel of Kip Oebanda's 2017 film, Bar Boys, a group of law neophytes face their first real test in practice. Which has more weight: Ideals or billables? Friendship or the law? The new film has the O.G. cast — Carlo Aquino, Rocco Nacino, Enzo Pineda, and Kean Cipriano — reprise their roles.

I'mPerfect

Described as a 'social romance,' I'mPerfect tells the romance between two people with Down Syndrome, following their bid for love, work, and independence. Sigrid Andrea Bernardo (Kita-Kita) directs the film.

Love You So Bad

Featuring WillCa (Will Ashley and Bianca De Vera) and Dustin Yu, this young romantic comedy pushes three young hearts to choose between friendship and the rush of first love that could ruin it. The film is directed by Mae Cruz-Alviar.

Unmarry

Jeffry Jeturian's breakup drama, Unmarry, sees a couple — played by Angelica Panganiban and Zanjoe Marudo — navigating the legal and emotional undoing of their marriage.

The MMFF 2025 films will screen nationwide this Christmas, December 25. For real-time updates, follow their Facebook Page.