Holy Week worthy movies to binge on

THERE are films that are appropriate to watch over Holy Week, and films that are less so. Southeast Asian streaming service iflix have come up with a list of Holy Week-appropriate films to binge on over the next few days.

• APARISYON — Sister Lourdes (Jodi Sta. Maria), is a newcomer to the convent. She avoids Mother Superior, as she sneaks away to attend political rallies with Sister Remy (Mylene Dizon), a young nun suffering from a crisis of faith after her brother’s disappearance.

• NIÑO — Saddled with a failed marriage, a vanishing career, and mounting debt, Celia sells her share of their house to her bedridden brother Gaspar. A fervent believer of the Sto. Niño, she hopes to invoke a miracle, as she dresses up her grandson, Antony, in Sto. Niño robes for the coming fiesta. What she doesn’t know is her own son is working towards taking the family home away from her.

• ANG PAGLIPAD NG ANGHEL — Gabby, a young accountant, leads an uneventful life. Every day is routine, until he sees a beggar on his way to work. He brings the old woman to a hospice where the nuns can care for her. After this, he starts noticing feathers growing on his back. As the feathers grow into full wings and complicate his life, he starts to face the reality of being an “angel.”

• MAGNIFICO — Magnifico and his family lives an impoverished life in the province. His sister suffers from cerebral palsy, his older brother, who studies in Manila, has just lost his scholarship, and his grandmother has stomach cancer. Pikoy (Magnifico), who is failing in school himself, often hears his parents arguing about money. All this misfortune urges him to think of ways to help his family. With his young, kind and sympathetic heart, he eventually helps his family and his townspeople.

• MYSTIFIED — The first iflix original movie for the Philippines tells the story of four sorceresses (Iza Calzado, Sunshine Dizon, Karylle and Diana Zubiri) who, through their combined strengths, have successfully banished the evil witch Hellga. Now, the four women have been sent to live in the real world to protect the magic portal — except they are not allowed to use any of their powers. Many years later, they must come together anew to protect mankind from a great evil that is coming their way.

• FORREST GUMP — Slow-witted Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) has never thought of himself as disadvantaged, and thanks to his supportive mother (Sally Field), he leads anything but a restricted life. Whether becoming a college football star, fighting in Vietnam or captaining a shrimp boat, Forrest inspires people with his childlike optimism. But one person Forrest cares about most may be the most difficult to save — his childhood love, the sweet but troubled Jenny (Robin Wright).

• ONE MAN’S HERO — The film tells the little-known story of the “St. Patrick’s Battalion” or “San Patricios,” a group of primarily Irish-Catholic immigrants who deserted to Mexico after encountering religious and ethnic prejudice in the US Army during the Mexican-American War. At the center of the story is Army Sergeant John Riley, an Irishman. He was commissioned as captain in the Mexican army, leading his men in battle and struggling with authorities on both sides of the border

• ALIVE — The amazing true story of an Uruguayan rugby team’s plane that crashed in the Andes mountains, and their immense will to survive. They are forced to do anything and everything they can to stay alive on meager rations and through the freezing cold.

• MILA — An inspiring story of a woman who shares her life with everyone she encounters, empowering them to find their purpose and potential, and through her example, find ways to realize their mission in life.

• TANGING YAMAN — Siblings Danny (Johnny Delgado), Art (Edu Manzano), and Grace (Dina Bonnevie) are leading separate lives, until they come together for their ailing mother Dolores “Loleng” Rosales (Gloria Romero) who is slowly wasting away from Alzheimer’s in their family’s ancestral home.

• OUT OF THE DARK — A documentary about the extraordinary international efforts to find and rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a remote cave in northern Thailand.

• BLOOD BROTHER — a documentary about a young man’s decision to move to India and restart his life after meeting a group of children living in an orphanage with HIV.

• LITTLE AZKALS — A documentary about the search for the next Philippine Azkals football team who will undergo training for the 2019 World Cup qualifier. Of over 1,000 boys from around the country, only 22 are selected.