Islands (2021)

Directed by

Martin Edralin

Genre

drama

Country

Canada

Runtime

1h 35m

Rated

18A

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A Filipino Canadian man in his late 40s has spent his life caring for his elderly parents. After his mother dies, his cousin visits to help with his father, and he begins to struggle with confusing feelings for her. The film is about a man confronting what he wants for himself versus the duty he feels toward his family.

slow-burnmelancholicintimatequietbittersweetreflectiveemotionally restrainedlonelysubtle

What happens

Islands is a 2021 Canadian drama film, written, produced, and directed by Martin Edralin. The film stars Rogelio Balagtas as Joshua, a Filipino Canadian man in his late 40s who has sacrificed his own happiness to care for his aging parents Alma (Vangie Alcasid) and Reynaldo (Esteban Comilang); following his mother's death, his cousin Marisol (Sheila Lotuaco) comes to visit and offers to help care for Reynaldo, leading Joshua to confront what he really wants in life when he begins to experience misplaced feelings of falling in love with Marisol. Edralin has described the film as inspired in part by the archetype of the "maiden aunt" who stays with her parents and never marries or builds her own independent life, and by a desire to explore that story from the less familiar perspective of a man in the same situation. The film received production funding from Telefilm Canada's Talent to Watch funding program in 2018. Edralin had originally planned to set the film in the Philippines, but subsequently decided to tell it as a story about Filipino immigrants in Canada. The film premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, where Balagtas won the Special Jury Prize for Breakthrough Performance. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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