Sana Sinabi Mo (Filipino/English) [I Wish You Had Told Me]

This is a sentimental Filipino-Spanish drama about a young missionary uncovering his late father's secret gay love affair. It highlights queer theme with respect and dignity. It doesn't say religion is bad or anything but it does give a perspective on just a very loving father-son relationship but also how it is difficult to be yourself in a very conservative religious setting. It gives. A hint of it but never goes into to many details, because its focu sis on love.

Young Seph is giving his speech at his father Otep's funeral, when it is interrupted by a woman, Cecil, whom Seph has never heard of. She screams obscenities and claims that Otep was gay, and that Seph ruined Otep’s life by being born. For a very conservative church going family, this comes as a surprise, especially since Seph is supposed to depart soon on a several-year mission trip, but this revelation sees him beginning to question his church. He decides to met Cecil to know the truth about his father. He learns about a secret lover, Rum in Spain, with whom Otep wrote back and forth. They never met but were sort of pen pals. In fact, Seph even finds these hidden letters and postcards. Seph uses the mission trip as an excuse to get to Spain and try to find Rum so he can better understand his father. This becomes even more important hen Cecil hands him a letter that Otep wrote to Rum but could not post it since his family found out about him. And he asked her to wait to post it at a later time. After a few trials and struggles Seph is able to locate Rum, who initially refuses to meet him but eventually warms up and they spend sometime together. Seph asks for his forgiveness for his dad, and it is evident that Seph loved his father, regardless of his past or his sexuality.

The film is about learning, growing, and changing to meet loved ones’ needs. The way Seph tries to uncover the truth about his father first and then later finish his unfulfilled task is something only a very living and caring son would do. Seph and Otep both get the chance to be relieved through Seph’s journey to find Rum. The film is focused and simple and says on the journey. We do have many scenes to show us hints of the church pastor being evil and abusive. Was that necessary? I am not sure, but it does provide a tangential arc. Through various flashbacks we do get an idea of what Otep and Cecil's friendship was like and how he hid his sexuality. In a very innovative form, we also see Seph interacting with his dead father through text or otherwise in person, which gives it an interesting medium. We see Otep relaying his heart into the love letters he once wrote to his pen pal, and in parallel, we follow Seph’s own emotional journey. He goes from struggling to accept his father’s true self to ultimately embracing him with complete love and understanding. The touching moments are the original highlight of this film, as the interactions between Seph and Otep. Having said all these positive things, I do have a few issues. Otep is shown so old in the film that he feels like more Seph's grandfather than father. Also since the film is set in current times, Otep's younger days feels like more in 80s , meanwhile given Seph's age, they should have been 90s maximum. On a brighter side, the landscapes of Cordoba are just gorgeous to look at. even though Otep’s love is never fulfilled in the real world, the film leaves us with the comforting sense that the lovers are together in spirit, and that’s what makes this movie stay emotionally resonant till the end. (6.5/10)