OPEN ENDINGS

OPEN ENDINGS
by Nigel Santos

110 MINUTES | Drama/Romance/LGBTQIA+

CAST
Janella Salvador, Klea Pineda, Leanne Mamonong, Jasmine Curtis-Smith

PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR – Nigel Santos
SCREENPLAY – Keavy Eunice Vicente
PRODUCER – Tin Velasco
CINEMATOGRAPHER – Martika Ramirez Escobar
PRODUCTION DESIGN – Sam Manacsa
EDITOR – Maria Estela Paiso
ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE – April Hernandez
SOUND DESIGN – Jannina Mikaela Minglanilla, Michaela Docena
LINE PRODUCER – Patricia Salic
PRODUCTION MANAGER – Wheen Renegado
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR – Chad Cabigon
COLORIST – Dia Magsaysay-Sigua
STYLIST – Jilla Sara
HMUA – Aira Castor
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS – Tarzeer Pictures, Macky Macapagal, Anne Dizon and Surot Matias, Fanciful
Strays, Jun “Sonny” Villena and Mildred Alea, Joleil Villena, Jezriel Villena, Jien Villena

LOGLINE
Four queer women in their 30s who are exes-turned-best-friends navigate adulthood, love, friendship, chosen families, and everything in between.

SYNOPSIS
Follows Hannah, Charlie, Kit, and Mihan, four queer women in their early 30s who share a deeply entangled history: first girl crush, first girlfriend, first kiss, first love, great love, heartbreaks, one-night stands, even ghosting. The romance may have ended, but the friendship held strong. When Hannah is pulled into deep grief, the others show up without hesitation. Through breakups, family drama, and personal struggles, they keep choosing one another. Just when life starts to feel stable, Hannah is faced with a decision that changes everything without warning. Can their friendship carry the weight of what’s next? Will old feelings resurface?

Open Endings is tender, funny, a little unhinged, and full of yearning. It’s a story about holding on to the people who’ve seen you through every version of yourself, and stayed.

FILMMAKER’S PROFILE

NIGEL SANTOS works as a copywriter in an advertising agency while pursuing projects as a freelance screenwriter and director. A literature graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, she was a fellow at the Gawad Plaridel Masterclass in Scriptwriting with Ricky Lee (2015), the Bahay Konsepto Filmmaking Workshop with Sigfried Barros-Sanchez (2015), the CinePanulat Screenwriting Lab with Jun Lana (2016), the 11th Rogelio Sicat National Writing Workshop (2018), and the UST National Writers Workshop (2018). Her short film Dalaginding Na Si Isang (2019), which won Best Child Performer award for its actor Miel Espinosa, was a finalist at the CineMarya Women’s Short Film Festival. It screened locally and internationally and earned two nominations at the 37th PMPC Star Awards for Movies. Her debut feature, Yours Truly, Shirley (2019), starring Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, premiered at the CinemaOne Originals Film Festival. She has written for Dreamscape Entertainment and Rein Entertainment. Open Endings (2025), her second full-length feature and her first Cinemalaya film, continues her exploration of women’s stories, focusing on their inner lives, relationships, and the choices that define them.

Screenwriter KEAVY EUNICE VICENTE is a Filipino screenwriter who has participated in notable workshops, including Ricky Lee’s ABS-CBN Scriptwriting for Television and the 2nd Cinepanulat Screenwriting Lab with Jun Robles Lana. Her debut feature, Distance (2018), premiered at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, and screened at numerous international festivals, including the Tokyo International Film Festival. Vicente’s other notable works include Unforgettable (2019), Pearl Next Door (2020), and Love at First Spike (2025). Her latest film, Open Endings, marks her third full-length feature and her second entry at Cinemalaya.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

OPEN ENDINGS comes from a personal place: a need to explore the kinds of queer relationships we rarely see on screen. As a queer woman in my 30s living in the Philippines, I often search for stories that mirror the life I know: soft, messy, complicated. Stories that reflect the quiet, uncertain parts of adulthood. This film leans into those grey areas: when things aren’t simple anymore, when relationships shift, labels blur, and friendship becomes the most lasting kind of intimacy. For many queer women, that uniquely intimate bond is what holds us through heartbreak, change, and everything in between. What I want to show is that staying connected, even after love takes a different shape, is still a love story. That’s what OPEN ENDINGS is really about. I hope this film adds something meaningful to the growing conversation around queer stories in Philippine cinema. It’s not perfect, but it’s honest—just one version of what love can look like. There’s still so much more to tell. So let’s keep making space for queer stories that feel real and true.