Wenn Deramas, Kidlat Tahimik films make global list of 100 best movie sequels

Wenn Deramas and National Artist Kidlat Tahimik’s films have landed in the “100 Best Movie Sequels Ever Made” list of IndieWire, a New York-based online film criticism and analysis publication.

The list, which features contributions from 21 film critics, was curated around films that “most sublimely illustrated the possibilities of what a sequel can be” and how they could build on their predecessors to achieve “a greater power than their original ever could.”

Ranking at 75th, Wenn Deramas’ 2008 comedy “Ang Tanging Ina N’yong Lahat”—sequel to 2003’s “Ang Tanging Ina”—follows Ina Montecillo (Ai-Ai delas Alas), a single mother of 12, as she runs for Philippine president. Her administration ultimately proves disastrous for both the country and her children.

In a blurb for IndieWire’s list, Filipino film critic Lé Baltar described the film as a “portrait of motherhood rendered on a national scale,” while noting its political inflection. The film, she said, sets up a parody of the “despotic Gloria Macapagal Arroyo regime” under which the blockbuster was made.

Baltar further said the film critiques the “self-mythologizing power” of assuming the image of a charismatic maternal figure to provoke an “electoral herd mentality” in a country where the family unit is deemed sacred.

At 87th, Tahimik’s “Sinong lumikha ng yoyo? Sinong lumikha ng moon buggy?” (international title: “Who Invented the Yoyo? Who Invented the Moon Buggy”) is a quasi-sequel to his 1977 magnum opus “Mababangong Bangungot” (“Perfumed Nightmare”).

“Yoyo” follows Tahimik’s character as he launches a Philippine space project while living in a fictional German town. Teaming up with a group of children, they build a homemade rocket to see if one can play yo-yo on the moon.

Baltar said “Yoyo” effectively satirizes the Western space race through its protagonist’s homemade attempt to reach the moon.

She added that Tahimik’s use of fiction, animation, diaristic voiceover, and cinéma vérité calls into question “our relationship with objects of pseudo-progress” and how they can be weaponized in pursuit of “some techno-capitalist and neocolonialist ideal.”

Gregory Jacobs’ 2015 comedy-drama “Magic Mike XXL” topped the list. The sequel to 2012’s “Magic Mike” follows the titular Mike (Channing Tatum) as he comes out of retirement as a stripper to help his friends put on one last performance.

IndieWire has dedicated weeks in August to celebrating film history through themed series, including its 2022 90’s Week. This year’s Sequels Week runs from Aug. 10 to 14.

Established in 1996, the publication focuses on independent film—and has since expanded its coverage to film, television, and streaming.

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