Underplayed Gems

Saving Sally (2016)

Saving Sally poster
Directed by
Avid Liongoren
Genre
romantic comedy
Country
Philippines
Runtime
1h 34m
Rating
5.7 of 10 from 10 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A young comic book artist tries to protect his gadget-inventing friend from the difficult people in her life. The film uses a mix of live action and animation to tell their story.

whimsicalromanticlightheartedinventivevisually playfulsweetquirkygentle

What happens

Saving Sally is a 2016 Philippine film directed by Avid Liongoren in his directorial debut. Combining live action and animation, the film revolves around Marty (Enzo Marcos), an amateur comic book artist who falls for Sally (Rhian Ramos), a gadget inventor, and has since become her loyal protector and hero from the "monsters": her abusive parents, and her obnoxious boyfriend Nick (TJ Trinidad). Production on Saving Sally commenced in 2005 and came to a halt for lack of financing. Liongoren co-wrote the screenplay with Charlene Sawit-Esguerra and Carlo Ledesma, based on a short story written by Sawit-Esguerra in 2002, which was titled Monster Town. French producers then took interest in funding the film and production resumed in 2010. The film is an official entry to the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival where it had a lackluster opening at the box office, but went on to earn ₱27 million and was one of the festival's top-grossing entries by the end of its run. Critical reception was mostly positive, with particular praise for its creativity, visual effects, and film score, while some criticized the plot for being too formulaic. The film was streamed on YouTube on November 7, 2025. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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