Acclaimed actor John Lloyd Cruz’s successful streak continues after his movie with Bea Alonzo, A Second Chance raked in over P500 million at the box-office. Cruz’s star is certainly shining even brighter because the family drama, Honor Thy Father, which he served as executive producer along with Reality Entertainment’s Dondon Monteverde, is now an official entry to the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Directed by Erik Matti and written by Michiko Yamamoto, “HTF,” as the film is known in the film circle, is about the saga of a father named Edgar. In the story, the investment business run by his wife Kaye collapses, prompting co-financiers to pressure Edgar and his wife Kaye to return the money. As the head of the family, Edgar does everything he can to protect Kaye and their daughter Angel (Meryll Soriano and Krystal Brimner) from the disgruntled investors hounding them.
Although Cruz’s role in the MMFF entry is different from previous roles he played in films, the talent that has endeared him to fans definitely comes to fore in this one. Not surprisingly, the actor immediately fell in love with the character of Edgar and was excited to work every single shooting day.
According to Matti, the script was tailor-made to showcase Cruz’s acting prowess. “Lahat ng hindi pa nagagawa ni John Lloyd sa nauna niyang movies, ginawa niya for the first time sa Honor Thy Father.”
“HTF” premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival where it received favorable reviews from The Hollywood Reporter. The film opened the 2015 Cinema One Originals Film Festival to an SRO crowd awed by Cruz’s mind-blowing performance and the film’s awesome production values and storytelling.
“HTF” is the latest collaboration of the producer-director tandem of Monteverde and Matti. Their courageous, ground-breaking partnership has given birth to new concepts in cinema such as the films Prosti, Pa-Siyam, Exodus, Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles, Rigodon, On The Job, and Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2.
This John Lloyd Cruz starrer is the third consecutive production of the Matti and Monteverde duo given an “A’” by the Cinema Evaluation Board. Two previous movies –– On The Job and Kubot – also got an “A” each.
As an added treat to the audience, the MMFF version of Honor Thy Father will have additional scenes and a new song not included in the international version.The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board gave it an R-13 to allow audience 13 years of age and above to watch it.
Cruz’s stunning performance will shine again starting Dec. 25 when Honor Thy Father opens in cinemas nationwide.
Also in the cast are the equally praiseworthy Tirso Cruz III, Dan Fernandez, Boom Labrusca, Khalil Ramos, William Martinez, and Yayo Aguila.
For updates about the movie, log on to facebook.com/honorthyfatherfilm.