''Way Back Home'' is a 2011 Filipino

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

. The film was released by

Star Cinema ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc. (doing business as Star Cinema or ABS-CBN Films) is a Philippines, Filipino film studio and film and television production company and film distributor headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the major film ...

and premiered on August 17, 2011.Kathryn Bernardo and Julia Montes portray sisters in ''Way Back Home''
retrieved on July 23, 2011 via www.pep.ph The film follows the story of two sisters, Ana Bartolome (

Kathryn Bernardo Kathryn Chandria Manuel Bernardo (; born March 26, 1996) is a Filipino actress and singer. Dubbed as “''Asia's Superstar”'' by various media outlets, People Asia hailed Bernardo as the Box Office Queen of her generation for being the onl ...

) and Jessica Santiago (

Julia Montes Mara Hautea Schnittka (; born March 19, 1995), known professionally as Julia Montes (), is a Filipino-German actress and model. She is one of the most sought-after actresses in the country and has been hailed as the “''Royal Princess of Dram ...

), who have been separated for twelve years and grew up in two totally different worlds.

Plot

For 12 years, Jessica Santiagio (Julia Montes) has been dealing with the pain and guilt of losing her sister Joanna. Despite her efforts to please her mother Amy (Agot Isidro), Jessica knows that the emptiness in her mother's heart can only be filled by Joanna's return. Unbeknownst to the Santiagos, Joanna has lived to become Ana Bartolome (Kathryn Bernardo), the daughter of simple fisher folk (Lotlot De Leon). When Ana is finally found, she tries to reconnect with her family, especially with Jessica. But Ana's return worsens Jessica's feelings of abandonment. Jessica feels less loved by Amy while Ana feels like she has to win Jessica's approval. After growing tensions between the two sisters result in a competition that endangers the life of one, the family is forced to confront the possibility of being torn apart again.

Production

After the success of the television series, ''

Mara Clara ''Mara Clara'' is a Philippine drama television series on ABS-CBN, which aired from August 17, 1992 to February 14, 1997, replacing ''Sebya, Mahal Kita'' and was replaced by ''Esperanza''. The series stars Judy Ann Santos and Gladys Reyes. It wa ...

'',

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

decided to launch the lead cast of the series to film, Bernardo and Montes. In February 2011, the cast was announced that the two main characters will be portrayed by Bernardo and Montes and supposedly together with

AJ Perez Antonello Joseph Sarte Perez (February 17, 1993 – April 17, 2011) was a Filipino actor. He was a member of ABS-CBN's Star Magic in Batch 13. He portrayed one of the lead characters in the 2009 miniseries '' Your Song Presents: Underage''. In 2 ...

and

Albie Casiño Alan Benedict Lee Hernandez Casiño (born May 14, 1993), popularly known as Albie Casiño, is a Filipino actor best known for his role as Christian in the 2010 hit series, ''Mara Clara''. Personal life Casiño was involved in a controversy wi ...

. However, on April 17, 2011, Perez died due to a vehicular accident.Julia Montes is sad that she won't have AJ Perez as her leading man in her very first movie
retrieved on May 6, 2011 via http://push.com.ph The film company then replaced Perez with

Sam Concepcion Samuel Lawrence Lopez Concepcion (born October 17, 1992) is a Filipino singer, dancer, actor, VJ and host. Concepcion emerged as the winner for the Big Division of the first season of ''Little Big Star'' in April 2006. Concepcion currently ha ...

.Sam Concepcion wants to make AJ Perez proud
retrieved on May 20, 2011 via http://push.com.ph In June 2011, Casino was originally tied to the film. However, in July, he was pulled out and was replaced by

Enrique Gil Enrique Mari Bacay Gil V (; born March 30, 1992) is a Filipino actor, dancer, and commercial model. Gil has appeared in various films and television shows such as ''Mula Sa Puso'', ''Budoy'', '' Princess and I'', '' Muling Buksan Ang Puso'' an ...

. According to Star Cinema, the change in the lineup is prompted by their desire to experiment with different combinations for Bernardo and Montes.Enrique Gil replaces Albie Casino in upcoming Kathryn Bernardo-Julia Montes movie
retrieved on July 8, 2011 via www.pep.ph Casino had initially worked with Bernardo and Montes in ''

''.

Cast and characters

as Ana Bartolome / Joanna Liezl Santiago *

as Jessica Lorraine "Jessie" Santiago

Supporting cast

as Michael Estacio *

as Andrew Joseph “AJ” Delgado *

Agot Isidro Maria Margarita Amada Fteha Isidro (born July 20, 1966), known professionally as Agot Isidro, is a Filipino actress. She is the fourth of the six children of Jose Isidro, an architect, and Palestinian mother Edwarta Fteha. She graduated from t ...

as Amelia "Amy" Santiago *

Tonton Gutierrez Eduardo Antonio Winsett Gutierrez, Jr. (born March 20, 1968), professionally known as Tonton Gutierrez, is a Filipino film and television actor best known for his role as Governor Eduardo Buenavista in the original hit teleserye ''Pangako Sa ...

as Ariel Santiago *

Lotlot De Leon Charlotte Jennifer Villamayor de Leon El Soury (born February 16, 1971), known professionally as Lotlot de Leon, is a Filipino actress. Career She was a member of '' That's Entertainment'', along with Ramon "Monching" Christopher as her love-te ...

as Lerma Bartolome *

Clarence Delgado Clarence William Delgado (born December 15, 2004), is a Filipino teen actor. He was discovered by Star Circle Quest 2011 where he won as The Male Winner. He had appeared in ''Goin' Bulilit'' and '' Way Back Home''. He transferred to GMA Network ...

as Buboy Bartolome *

Bella Flores Remedios Papa Dancel (February 27, 1929 – May 19, 2013), commonly known as Bella Flores, was a Filipina actress. She was best known for her "iconic" portrayals of film villains. She is popularly referred as the original “Queen of Kontrabida ...

as Lola Nita *

Ahron Villena Ahron Villena (born Roche Ahron Villena on March 10, 1987) is a Filipino actor. He was formerly a member of ABS-CBN's circle of homegrown talents Star Magic and is currently a freelance artist. Career In 2004, he joined and won the ABS-CBN noon ...

as Jeffrey Santiago *

Jairus Aquino Jairus Reuel Balagtas Aquino (, born April 1, 1999) is a Filipino actor best known for his roles in ''Super Inggo'', ''Kung Fu Kids'' and ''Luv U''. He appeared in several television advertisements before his first television appearance as an ...

as Junior Bartolome *Josh Ivan Morales as Uncle Dado *Gilleth Sandico as Aunt Tida *

Mickey Ferriols Michelle Ferriols (born March 8, 1973), simply known as Mickey Ferriols, is an American-born Filipino actress. She has a son with ex-partner Archie Alemania named Brent Marcus Alemania. Career Ferriols shot into stardom via a PLDT commercial. ...

as Bettina *Kyle Danielle Ocampo as Young Jessica Santiago *Veyda Inoval as Pochay *Veronica Louise Bernardo as Young Joanna Santiago *Cecil Paz as Yaya Minda *Earl Christian Periquet as Young Jeffrey Santiago *Ray An Dulay as Berto *

Kristel Fulgar Kristel Aina Oquindo Fulgar (born December 29, 1994) is a Filipino actress and singer. She is known for her roles in ''Goin' Bulilit'', ''Maria Flordeluna'', '' Dahil Sa Pag-ibig'', ''Got to Believe'' and Bagito. Filmography Television Film ...

as Froggy/ Luisa Mariquit *Katrina "Hopia" Legaspi as Yvette

Reception

Launch

The official poster and promotional photos were released through Star Cinema's official

Multiply Multiplication (often denoted by the cross symbol , by the mid-line dot operator , by juxtaposition, or, on computers, by an asterisk ) is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the other ones being additi ...

site. The official cinematic trailer was released on the July 30 episode of the noontime variety show, ''

Happy Yipee Yehey ''Happy Yipee Yehey!'' is a Philippine noontime variety show that was broadcast by ABS-CBN and worldwide through The Filipino Channel.

''. It was first reported that the soundtrack of the film, ''"You're My Home"'' will be covered by

Maria Aragon Maria Lourdes Aragon (born July 17, 2000) is a Canadian singer.

, but later on showed in the film's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

that

Angeline Quinto Angeline Ticman Quinto (; born November 26, 1989) is a Filipina singer, actress, entrepreneur and winner of '' Star Power: Sharon's Search For The Next Female Pop Superstar'' in 2011. Quinto has been dubbed as the "''Philippines’ Queen of ...

will sing the theme song, which was originally sung by Odette Quesada.

Critical response

On a film review done by Noel Orsal of Philippine Entertainment Portal he quoted, "The typical Filipino film is at home in portraying families. It brings out one of the best dramatic scenes and emphatic dialogues primarily because relationships within the family can relate to. Conflicts and dysfunction between parent and child or among siblings would always find an audience connecting to a particular character over another."

Box office

The film opened at first place with an P18 million within its first week surpassing ''

50 First Dates ''50 First Dates'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Peter Segal and starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin and Dan Aykroyd in supporting roles. It follows the story of Henry, a womanizing m ...

'' and '' Blended'' in

Philippine cinema The Cinema of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Pelikulang Pilipino'' or ''Sine Pilipino'') began with the introduction of the first moving pictures to the country on August 31, 1897, at the ''Salón de Pertierra'' in Manila. The following year, local ...

s, according to

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray began ...

.''Way Back Home'' first week gross
retrieved August 21, 2011 On its second week, the film grossed an estimated P4 million, having a total gross receipt of P25.7 million.
updated September 14, 2011 The film was shown in theaters for only two weeks because of the new

film

Wedding Tayo, Wedding Hindi ''Wedding Tayo, Wedding Hindi'' is a 2011 Filipino comedy film starring Toni Gonzaga and Eugene Domingo.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Way Back Home
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Philippine drama films 2010s Tagalog-language films Star Cinema films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Jerry Lopez Sineneng