The COVID-19 pandemic surged again in 2021, so for the first 10 months we can only watch Filipino films by streaming on sites like Netflix, KTX and Upstream. The new kid on the block this year is Vivamax, which certainly upped the ante by coming up with one new Filipino film every Friday. Most of them may be silly comedies or exploitative erotica, but Vivamax almost single-handedly kept the local film industry alive and going this year.

But when the vaccinations started to be rolled out by March, the planned reopening of movie theaters finally happened in mid-November. The hybird QCinema Filmfest had several feature films shown in Gateway Cineplex, with only one new Filipino title among them. By Christmas Day, the Metro Manila Filmfest was underway, with all eight entries being shown exclusively in cinemas, albeit no big box-office names of MMFF past like Vice Ganda or Vic Sotto.

These are top 20 Filipino movies I had seen and written about in 2021:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

20. MANG JOSE by Raynier Brizuela
19. THE HOUSEMAID by Roman Perez Jr.
18. GAMEBOYS: THE MOVIE by Ivan Andrew Payawal
17. TENEMENT 66 by Rae Red
16. NERISA by Law Fajardo
15. REVIRGINIZED by Darryl Yap
14. IKAW AT AKO AT ANG ENDING by Irene Emma Villamor
13. KATIPS by Vince Tanada
12. RABID by Erik Matti
11. GENSAN PUNCH by Brillante Mendoza

10. MORE THAN BLUE by Nuel Crisostomo Naval

BFFs Charles Keith or "K" (JC Santos) and Sue Anne or "Cream" (Yassi Pressman) had been living together in a platonic arrangement since high school. To try to get K to propose to her, Cream began to go out with a dentist John Luis (Diego Loyzaga). To assure himself that Cream had a good man who can take care of her when he is not in her life anymore, K even asked John's girlfriend Cathy (Ariella Arida) to help him get the two together.

9. TAO PO by Mae Paner

In the first monologue, Paner was veteran photojournalist Raffy Lerma assigned to the EJK beat. The second monologue was about Rosing, a Zumba instructor whose husband Marcelo and son Jojo had both been gunned down as drug addicts. The third monologue was about a nameless policeman assigned to conduct EJKs. The fourth monologue was about Vanessa, a teenage girl who wanted to light candles for them at the gravesite of her parents.

8. DITO AT DOON by JP Habac

Eight days into the quarantine, graduating Education major Arlene "Len" Esguerra got into an argument with a certain Carlo "Caloy" Cabahug on social media. That night, she invited her good friends Jo (Yesh Burce) and Mark (Victor Anastacio) for an online drinking session to rant about her online experience. Mark had a friend with him that time, and by sheer coincidence, the new guy turned out to be exact Caloy whom Len was complaining about.

7. MY AMANDA by Alessandra de Rossi

Even if they called each other silly pet names like Fuffy and Fream, TJ (Piolo Pascual) and Amanda (Alessandra de Rossi) had a close friendship which had remained platonic for all these years. They enjoyed lazy nights just lounging together on a hammock looking up at the stars, talking about their wacky experiences together. They had their respective romantic relationships with other people, but they remained each other's constants in their lives.

6. ARISAKA by Mikhail Red

Policewoman Mariano (Maja Salvador) had survived the bloody ambush of a political witness she was escorting to a press conference. Despite her injuries, she ran into the surrounding mountains to escape from her pursuers led by officer Sonny (Mon Confiado). Mariano's survival ordeal in the wilderness was alleviated by the appearance of a young indigenous girl named Nawi (Shella Ann Romualdo), whose family nursed her back to health.

5. KUN MAUPAY MAN IT PANAHON by Carlos Francisco Manatad

It was November of 2013. The super-typhoon Yolanda and the massive storm surge it triggered had just ravaged the city of Tacloban and left it in absolute state of mass destruction. When the worst had settled down, Miguel (Daniel Padilla) soon got reunited with his girlfriend Andrea (Rans Rifol), and later his mother Norma (Charo Santos). The three planned to catch a coming ship which will take them to Manila before a rumored next typhoon will hit.

4. BIG NIGHT! by Jun Lana

Dharna (Christian Bables) was a friendly neighborhood beautician. One day, a leaked document showed his real name Panfilo Macaspac Jr. to be among the suspected drug addicts in the watch list of their barangay. He learned that this list will be turned over to the Phil. National Police the next day. So for the rest of that day and night, Dharna went around to various area leaders in an effort to get his name out of the dreaded list.

3. A HARD DAY by Law Fajardo

Detective Villon (Dingdong Dantes) car hit a man crossing the road. After taking great pains to get rid of the body of the man he accidentally killed, Villon realized that his victim was the guy involved in the big drug case they were investigating. Soon after Villon began to receive persistent phone calls from someone who had apparently witnessed what he had done and was threatening to report him to the authorities.

2. HISTORYA NI HA by Lav Diaz

When his wedding plans miscarried, ventriloquist Hernando Alamada (John Lloyd Cruz) wandered around aimlessly. Along the way, he met Joselito (Jonathan Francisco), Dahlia (Dolly de Leon) and Sister Lorenza (Mae Paner) who all wanted to go to Barrio Daang Tapak to take the boat to Isla Diwata where gold was discovered. There, they faced the restrictive rules set by the imperious village chief Among Kuyang (Teroy Guzman).

1. ON THE JOB: THE MISSING 8 by Erik Matti

As the elections drew close and La Paz City mayor Pedring Eusebio (Dante Rivero) geared up to run for VP, the lives of two local journalists of La Paz were about to encounter major life-altering events. They are the pro-Eusebio radio personality Sisoy Salas (John Arcilla) and the anti-Eusebio newspaper publisher Arnel Pangan (Christopher de Leon).

The film (shown locally as a 4-part series on HBO Go) was well-made and well-intentioned, indignant and earnest in its angry message and its sensational exposé on the buried issues behind the news headlines. Its very familiar tragic scenarios (based on the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre) may lessen its shock factor a bit for Filipino viewers, but it nevertheless remains a very potent viewing experience.

BEST FILIPINO SHORT FILMS of 2021 THAT I HAVE SEEN:

5. THE DUST IN YOUR PLACE by David Olson (Cinemalaya 2021)

A comic strip writer Rick (Boo Gabunada) and his illustrator Claire (Chaye Mogg) take a break from their work to discuss why none of Rick's romantic relationships ever worked.

4. DANDANSOY by Arden Rod Condez (Sine Halaga 2021)

Since her daughter did not accept her unwelcome birthright, Lola Acay (Adela Luciano-Berboso in a remarkable introductory performance) decided it's time for her die.

3. CROSSING by Marc Misa (Cinemalaya 2021)

One night of desperate need, Gabriel (Nino Mendoza) got on a bus planning to hold the passengers up for instant cash. Fate had other things in store for him on this ride.

2. CITY OF FLOWERS by Xeph Suarez (QCinema 2021)

In 2013, Tausug flower farmer Nasser (Ramli T. Abdurahim) told his pregnant wife Elena (an excellent Czarina Yecla) that he had accepted an offer to attend a peace rally in Zamboanga the next day which promised a pay of P10,000 just to go and join.

1. SA BALAY NI PAPANG by Kurt Soberano (Sine Halaga 2021)

In 1982, director Peque Gallaga filmed his opus "Oro Plata Mata" in the estate where Jess' parents worked in Manapla, Negros Occidental. This nostalgic documentary smoothly transitioned from Jess Sta. Rosalia as a young boy (Caleb Zeke Mellina), a young man (Paolo Manayon) working on the set of various Gallaga films, and a middle aged man (Mandy Alonso) teaching film classes in a Bacolod university.

This review was originally published in the author's blog, “Fred Said.”