''The Gifted'' is a 2014 Filipino

Comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

film written and directed by Chris Martinez. ''The Gifted'' was produced by

Viva Films Viva Films is a Philippine film production company established under Viva Communications. It was founded on November 11, 1981, by Vic del Rosario Jr. History Veering away from the Sharon Cuneta-Gabby Concepcion tandem, Viva became home to qual ...

and MVP Entertainment. The film stars

Anne Curtis Anne Curtis-Smith(; born 17 February 1985) is a Filipino-Australian actress, model, television host, entrepreneur and recording artist. She is dubbed as the "''Multimedia Superstar''" for her talent and influence. Curtis has received numerou ...

Sam Milby Samuel Lloyd Milby (; born May 23, 1984) is a Filipino American, Filipino-American actor, musician, guitarist, model, recording artist, and businessman. In 2005, Milby decided to seriously pursue a career in show business and modeling. Biograph ...

, and

Cristine Reyes Ara Cristine Pascual Klenk (born February 5, 1989), known professionally as Cristine Reyes, is a Filipino actress, model, dancer and endorser. She is often called as the "Ultimate Star" by the local media for her acting prowess and popularity. ...

. It was released September 3, 2014. The Film was nominated at the 31st PMPC Star Awards for Movies for the "Movie of the Year" category. Anne Curtis, who played one of the lead roles was also nominated for the "Movie Actress of the Year" category.

Plot

Marco Yuzon (

) is attending a book signing event for his new book, ''The Gifted.'' He begins by reading a few chapters of the book. Zoe Tuazon (

) is a mixed race, rich, overweight, aggressive, and intelligent girl who goes to a school for an entrance exam with the unattractive Aica Tabayoyong (

) and their parents. Both of the students are highly gifted but are not admitted to the school. Instead, they get enrolled at a more prestigious school. One day, during religion class, Zoe ruins her reputation when she questions the story of creation and discusses the merits of the big bang theory. The next day, Aica ruins her name when she soils herself during a music lesson. The two outcasts become close friends and start causing trouble at school by poisoning students and a teacher and by setting a booby trap for the religion teacher. The entire school develops a fear of the two. Now in high school, Zoe (

) and Aica (

) vie for the valedictory honors. Zoe's mother ( Arlene Muhlach) convinces her to find Aica's weakness to prevent Aica achieving this. A new student, Mark Ferrer (

), a stereotypical jock, arrives at the school, and Aica immediately falls in love with him prompting Zoe to proceed with her destructive plan. Zoe meets up with Mark and convinces him to pretend to fall in love with Aica. In exchange Zoe does his homework and helps him cheat on quizzes. While he is not attracted to Aica, Mark forces himself to date her. Mark and Zoe's arrangement continues. After high school, Aica majors in Mathematics at the

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...

while Zoe goes to

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

to study Neuroscience. Both girls graduate with summa cum laude honors at their university. Before returning to the Philippines, Zoe and Aica undergo extensive

plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofa ...

to become more attractive. Both start a career in modelling and again become rivals. Zoe bumps into Mark who has graduated from a university in the U.S. Still furious with Aica, Zoe plots revenge and shows everybody the animated video version of Aica soiling herself pants during grade school. Aica follows Zoe to her house and, as Aica enters, a booby trap almost kills her . After Zoe's several attempts of killing Aica backfire, Zoe finally gives up after Aica almost drowns her. The two make up, but Zoe reveals it was just an act and points a gun at Aica. Aica runs for her life only to bump into Mark who shields her from the gun shot, wounding his face. Mark is admitted to the hospital while Aica asks Zoe to apologize. At first, she shows no remorse, but upon seeing of a picture of Mark wounded, she realizes her mistake. Aica and Mark get married the day that Zoe plans to leave the country. She sets a trap in the couple's hotel room which leads to a picture of young Zoe and Aica. Zoe has left the couple a letter apologizing for the things she had done which marks the end of the Marco's book. After the book signing, Marco Yuzon leaves the bookstore. A girl slams a copy of his book on his windshield; she turns out to be Aica. Zoe is with her, but the two have remained unattractive and overweight. The two, whose real names are Mica (Aica) and Joey (Zoe), are very angry at Marco who was their classmate in grade school and high school. Marco has always been envious of the girls' successes and is bitter for always placing third behind two girls. The novel is his way expressing his anger. The girls tell Marco they want him to sign their book with his blood and started to beat him up.

Cast

Main cast

as Zelda Olezia Eloize "Zoe" Gomez Tuazon / Joey *

as Aica Tabayoyong / Micah *

as Mark Ferrer / Marco Yuzon

Supporting cast

Candy Pangilinan Maria Carmela Espiritu Pangilinan , popularly known as Candy Pangilinan, is a Filipino film and television actress and comedian. She won best actress for CineFilipino 2016 and Los Angeles International Film Festival for the movie ''Star na si ...

as Aica's Mother *

Dominic Ochoa Jose Madrigal Ochoa (; born August 4, 1974), better known as Dominic Ochoa, is a Filipino actor, comedian, model and member of ABS-CBN's circle of homegrown talents named Star Magic, as part of the batch 4. He is currently managed by Boy Ab ...

as Aica's Father *Arlene Muhlach as Zoe's mother *Ricky Rivero as Zoe's Father *Isay Alvarez *

Yam Concepcion Lorraine May "Yam" Concepcion-Cuunjieng (born May 27, 1988), is a Filipina actress known for her role in the erotic thriller movie ''Rigodon'' directed by Erik Matti, and she rose to fame on the 2013 daytime television series ''Dugong Buhay'' a ...

*Ana Abad Santos as Ms. Moral *Kalila Aguilos *Rubi-Rubi *Racquel Villavicencio as Sister Angeline

Guest cast

*Alliya Fatima dela Riva as young Aica Tabayoyong / Micah *Kevin Remo as young Mark Ferrer / Marco Yuzon *Abby Bautista as young Zoe Tuazon / Joey *Ashley "Petra Mahalimuyak" Rivera * Shehyee Ongkiko as Batchmate *Irish Den Lanting *Van Dyke Atienza as Taho vendor

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gifted, The (film) 2014 films Philippine romantic comedy films 2014 romantic comedy films Films set in 2004 Films set in 2014 Viva Films films Films directed by Chris Martinez