Two of Philippine cinema’s most decorated actresses are about to share a screen with Filipinos in the Emirates.
Life After You, the Viva Films drama pairing Diamond Star Maricel Soriano with actress-director Bela Padilla, is expected to arrive in UAE cinemas soon, The Global Filipino Magazine has learned. The film opened in Philippine theaters nationwide on September 9.
Written and directed by Marla Ancheta—the filmmaker behind the 2022 Netflix drama Doll House—the movie follows two women bound by grief and by a child they both love. After her sister dies in a car accident, freelance worker Joey (Padilla) is thrust into an unexpected motherhood, forced to shelve her dream of working abroad to raise a niece the estranged father refuses to claim. The girl’s grandmother, Bella (Soriano), quietly reaches out to share the burden, and what begins as a rocky, reluctant alliance grows into something deeper.
It is a story of motherhood, friendship, and forgiveness—one that lands close to home for the diaspora. Padilla has likened Joey’s situation to that of overseas Filipino workers who leave their children in the care of relatives, a reality all too familiar to the community here in the UAE.
Described by its makers as a slice of life rather than a melodrama—no heroes, no villains, no grand confrontations—the film also marks a reunion for its leads, who first worked together in the 2007 comedy Bahay Kubo: A Pinoy Mano Po!
Watch this space. The Global Filipino Magazine will share UAE screening details as soon as they are confirmed.
