5 Filipino Movies That Showcase Filipino Experiences In Love

In starting a new relationship with a Filipino woman, you learn a lot about her unique cultural background. Her country’s food, clothing, the different language, and the way they do things are a change of pace for you.

But you may also notice something different, which is that they have a fond celebration for love. The experience of love dominates the Filipino social-media-sphere and pop culture in general. And nothing represents the state of Filipino culture better than cinema.

To help you better understand her culture and the Filipino take on love, here are 5 Filipino movies you might want to check out:

She’s Dating the Gangster (2014)

The movie takes place in a high school setting, where the main characters Athena and resident bad-boy Kenji pretend to be lovers in order to make Kenji’s ex jealous. The movie follows these two as they play the part of boyfriend and girlfriend, fooling their friends, family, and Kenji’s ex into believing they genuinely love each other. Eventually, they develop real feelings for each other, complicating their lives even further.

This movie depicts our high-school experience of love, evoking feelings of nostalgia for more adult audiences. The movie also shows typical Filipino values, particularly the importance of family.

100 Tula Para Kay Stella / 100 Poems For Stella (2017)

100 Tula Para Kay Stella is a coming-of-age story and deals with young love and infatuation.

The movie follows Fidel, a Psychology student with a speech impediment but a love for poetry, and Stella, a girl in the same major as him who also plays in a rock band. Despite their differences, they start talking to each other and become good friends. Throughout their friendship, Fidel begins to develop feelings for her and writes 100 poems to prove his love for her.

The movie emphasizes the lengths some people go to to prove their love for another. These acts, like serenading a girl outside her home, are representative of the Filipino way of showing love.

Hello, Love, Goodbye (2019)

The movie centers on Joy, who is an overseas foreign worker based in Hong Kong, and Ethan, who is a bartender building his permanent life there. Through some lucky encounters, they become friends and then soon after lovers. Their story continues with how they deal with the business of living in Hong Kong as well as their future together there.

This type of relationship is what most Filipinos experience when working abroad or migrating to a new country, an experience of navigating new cultures, languages, and problems.

Starting Over Again (2014)

This movie follows the love story of Ginny and Marco, who met when Ginny was still a college student while Marco was a teacher at the same school. Their relationship continues for 5 years until they realize they both want different things and decide to end their relationship.

They later run into each other and have to decide whether this is their second chance of getting back together or not.

The movie explains how in life, past love comes back and we have to decide to give it a chance or let it go.

That Thing Called Tadhana (2014)

The last movie deals with heartbreaks and the winds of fate in relationships.

The movie follows two unlikely people — Mace, who is just getting out of an 8-year-long relationship, and Anthony, who she meets at the airport and helps her with her breakup.

The two soon after build a connection and they travel to different places to find the answer to “where do broken hearts go?”

This movie features Filipino locations like Baguio and Sagada which are amazing tourist spots to go to.

Filipino cinema is rich with films showing the way Filipinos live and love. And while there is much to learn from them, they are a great source of fun and entertainment.

Hopefully, by indulging in a few of these films, you begin to have a greater appreciation for the Filipino heart and spirit.

So set a movie date night with your Filipino girlfriend, get the popcorn ready, and have the most romantic of times!