

A teacher falls for a sex worker in this messy, horny, poverty-fueled Filipino romance that dares you to judge it.
Candy is a sex worker. A poor teacher, Toto, falls in love with her and she becomes his motivation to work hard.
Acting
Barretto and Aquino commit to the mess fully, no vanity.
Direction
Laxamana shoots poverty without poverty porn aesthetics.

Director
Jason Paul Laxamana
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during the Philippines' post-pandemic cinema recovery, it sparked debate about whether Filipino mainstream film could handle sex work without moralizing. Spoiler: opinions were divided.
Julia Barretto reportedly did extensive research with actual sex workers in Angeles City, and some of their verbatim stories made it into dialogue.