''Way Back Home'' is a 2011 Filipino

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Jerry Lopez Sineneng from a story and screenplay written by Anna Karenina L. Ramos and Vanessa R. Valdez, with Dang Bagas as the co-writer. The film follows the story of two sisters, Ana Bartolome ( Kathryn Bernardo) and Jessica Santiago (

Julia Montes Mara Hautea Schnittka ( ; born March 19, 1995), known professionally as Julia Montes (), is a Filipino actress. Known for playing strong female characters and romantic leads in a range of genres across film and television, she has received var ...

), who have been separated for twelve years and grew up in two totally different worlds. Produced and distributed by Star Cinema, the film was theatrically premiered on August 17, 2011.

Plot

For 12 years, Jessica Santiago (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'' (which ended on June 3 2 months later),

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

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 and Albie Casiño. 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.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 and dancer. Gil has appeared in various films and television shows such as '' Mula sa Puso'', '' Budoy'', '' Princess and I'', '' Muling Buksan ang Puso'' and '' She's the One ...

. 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 '' Mara Clara''.

Cast and characters

* Kathryn Bernardo as Ana Bartolome / Joanna Liezl Santiago *

as Jessica Lorraine "Jessie" Santiago

Supporting cast

as Michael Estacio * Sam Concepcion as Andrew Joseph “AJ” Delgado *

Agot Isidro Maria Margarita Amada Fteha Isidro (born 20 July 1966), professionally known as Agot Isidro, is a Filipino actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in several telenovelas including '' Tayong Dalawa'', '' Tanging Yaman'', '' Nasaan K ...

as Amelia "Amy" Santiago *

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

as Ariel Santiago * Lotlot De Leon as Lerma Bartolome * Clarence Delgado as Buboy Bartolome * Bella Flores as Lola Nita * Ahron Villena as Jeffrey Santiago *

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

as Junior Bartolome * Josh Ivan Morales as Uncle Dado * Gilleth Sandico as Aunt Tida * Mickey Ferriols 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 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 is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the other ones being addition, subtraction, and division. The result of a multiplication operation is called a '' product''. Multiplication is often de ...

site. The official cinematic trailer was released on the July 30 episode of the noontime variety show, '' Happy Yipee Yehey''. It was first reported that the soundtrack of the film, ''"You're My Home"'' will be covered by Maria Aragon, but later on showed in the film's

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

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

Critical response

Jonry Mendoza, writing for Philippine Entertainment Portal, quoted the film as a "typical Filipino film" in depictions of a family and gives praise to its direction, cinematography, acting performances, and storytelling, which "brings out one of the best dramatic scenes and emphatic dialogues primarily because relationships within the family can relate to." He also gave a commendation to the story's tension, which would also make it relatable to audiences alike.

Box office

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

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (; ) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was created and introduced as a series of comic characters by ...

'' and '' Blended'' in Philippine cinemas, 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 ...

.''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 Star Cinema film '' Wedding Tayo, Wedding Hindi''.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Way Back Home
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

Philippine drama films 2010s Tagalog-language films Star Cinema films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Jerry Lopez Sineneng Films produced by Charo Santos-Concio Films produced by Malou N. Santos Films with screenplays by Anna Karenina Ramos Films with screenplays by Vanessa R. Valdez Films scored by Jessie Q. Lasaten