Verdict: Value for Money
Pinoy Rebyu Score: 3.39 (9 ratings)
Genre: Drama
Writer/Director: Jason Paul Laxamana
Cast: Alex Vincent Medina, Joey Paras, Alma Concepcion, Kiko Matos, Nico Antonio, Chanel Latorre, Marx Topacio, Raqs Regalado, Garry Lim, Sunshine Teodoro
Synopsis: An internet scammer falls in love with a wealthy old maid while trying to swindle her using a fake Facebook profile.
MTRCB Rating: R-16
Running Time: 101 mins.
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Trailer:
Reviews:
4.0 Oggs Cruz (Twitch)
“Babagwa is ingenious. Laxamana creates a believable world where fantasy and reality are immediately interchangeable.” (Read full review)
4.0 Philbert Dy (Click the City)
“There have been many films about the terrors of the Internet, but few have had the temerity to tell the story from the perspective of the scammer. And the result is cracking cinema, full of odd suspense and high emotion.” (Read full review)
4.0 Manuel Pangaruy (Tagailog Special Presents)
“Para sa akin, isa itong example kung paano i-explore ang isyu sa mga what-if at kung paano ito mahahanapan ng irony. Mahusay si Alex Medina rito. Dinamita!” (Read full review)
3.5 Skilty Labastilla (Young Critics Circle)
“Babagwa is a thoroughly involving caper that plays with humans’ capacity to switch identities to suit their selfish needs. Writer/Director Laxamana succeeds in realistically creating a world of deception and extortion using the technology that is supposed to bring people together and not break them apart.” (Read capsule review)
3.5 Mario Bautista (Showbiz Portal)
“Alex is superb because he’s not acting at all. He’s the character, especially when compared with his partner in crime, Joey Paras, who’s very obviously acting.” (Read full review)
3.5 Nicol Latayan (Tit for Tat)
“Laxamana’s screenplay is one that’s fresh and inspired.” (Read full review)
3.0 Fred Hawson (Fred Said)
“When the movie sticks to the story, it is interesting, engaging and exciting. You will get hooked into the web it spins. The climactic confrontation scene between Greg and Marney was explosive and excruciating, an acting highlight in the film.” (Read full review)
3.0 Rob San Miguel (Brun Magazine)
“Laxamana sadly employs the template of the gay man as ‘the perfect predator in Philippine cinema.’ The gay man is the mastermind of anything connected to lust, money and deception.” (Read full review)
2.0 Noli Manaig (Closely Watched Frames)
“What’s wrong is how the characters are too predictably dastardly not to deserve what’s coming to them at the end. What’s wrong is how it patronizes pat, customary morality.” (Read full review)
