''Connected'' is a 2022 Filipino youth-oriented

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Theodore Boborol Theodore Capistrano Boborol (born December 19, 1979) is a Filipino Film director, film and Television director, television director who started as a researcher, creative researcher for Star Cinema in 2000. Boborol made his directorial debut with ...

, starring former '' Pinoy Big Brother: Connect'' housemates Kobie Brown, Andi Abaya, Ralph Malibunas, Gail Banawis, Chico Alicaya, Amanda Zamora, and ''PBB'' co-host

Richard Juan Richard Juan ( zh, t=范鴻志, poj=Hoān Hông-chì, j=Faan6 Hung4zi3, p=; : ; born August 2, 1992), also known as Richard Hwan, is a Filipino television host, actor and film producer. He first gained popularity through the ''Eat Bulaga!'' s ...

as they navigate all their different personalities while finding a sense of purpose, love, attention, and the struggle to combat feelings of isolation in a connected world. It is also the first movie produced by Star Magic Studios, serving as the newly-formed studio's realization of its vision to produce movies that will showcase its artists' talents in the most perfect yet challenging roles for them.

Premise

With a desire to connect to something "greater than themselves," three different stories from

Gen Z Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 20 ...

or Zoomers are formed because of a connection by a

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

which prohibits them from using social media and their gadgets, and faced and felt the agony and pleasure of being in love.

Cast

Main cast

* Kobie Brown as Topher * Andi Abaya as Gabbie * Ralph Malibunas as Gen * Gail Banawis as Fin * Chico Alicaya as Rocky * Amanda Zamora as Sandy *

as Sky

Supporting cast

* Peewee O' Hara as Yayay Juaning *

Justin Cuyugan Justin Paulo Cuyugan (born October 11, 1980) is a Filipino character actor. Career Cuyugan was one of the new talents launched by ABS-CBN's talent management arm Star Magic ABS-CBN Center for Communication Arts, Inc., doing business as St ...

as Lorenz Toledo * Che Ramos-Cosio as Mira Toledo * Marife Necesito as Gabbie's mother * Jonic Magno as Gabbie's father * Skyzx Labastilla as Gen's mother * Russu Laurente as Paul

Production

According to Star Magic and

ABS-CBN Entertainment ABS-CBN Studios (also known as ABS-CBN Entertainment, ABS-CBN Entertainment Group, ABS-CBN Entertainment Department, ABS-CBN Production, or just simply ABS-CBN) is a Philippine film, television production and distribution company and the enterta ...

Production Head Laurenti Dyogi, Star Magic Studios is one of the exciting plans for Star Magic’s 30th year anniversary, with this being the maiden offering of the new film sub-company.

Casting

It was revealed that Brown, Abaya, Malibunas, Banawis, Alicaya, Zamora, and Juan were handpicked by Dyogi himself to star in the movie, and is considered the group's first starring roles in a film.

Release

Connected was released worldwide on July 22, 2022, via

iWantTFC iWantTFC (formerly known as iWant TV and iWant) is a Filipino over-the-top media service and production company owned and operated by ABS-CBN Digital Media, a division of ABS-CBN Corporation. It was formed in 2020 through the merger of two st ...

, KTX.ph, SKY Pay-Per-View, and

TFC IPTV The Filipino Channel, commonly known as TFC, is a global subscription television network owned and operated by the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. Its programming is composed primarily of imported programs produced and distri ...

Theatrical

The movie had its theatrical release on the same day of its worldwide release, with Boborol and the main cast except Abaya and Banawis gracing the red carpet event. The event was also attended by Dyogi, and some former ''Pinoy Big Brother'' housemates from previous seasons.

Marketing

The movie's full trailer was released on June 24, 2022, on ABS-CBN Entertainment's social media accounts.

Critical response

Fred Hawson, writing for KTX.ph, described writer Mary Rose Colindres's concept as "(woving) three stories of young love into the mix," and who "was also able to weave in a little detail about a lost pin with a motivational message which worked its magic with everyone, and this was very ingenious." Hawson also went on to describe Abaya and Alicaya as showing "the most promise so far" among the six neophyte actors.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt21146950 Filipino-language films Philippine romantic comedy films * 2022 films