The Mistress“It’s complicated.” In a nutshell, this is the situation that the characters of JD Torres and Sari Alfonso find themselves in when they give in to their smoldering passion and attraction to each other. It shouldn’t have been a problem as JD is a single, good-looking self-made architect while Sari is also a single, gorgeous, budding apprentice cutter in a tailoring shop that JD was commissioned to renovate.

There is just one glaring hitch: Sari happens to be the mistress of JD’s father who JD despises because he knew his father was carrying an extramarital affair; he just didn’t know that it was with Sari. When JD finds out… it gets complicated. Bring his suffering mother with a dark secret into the picture and the romantic future of JD and Sari gets even murkier.

TFCThe talk of the town – or towns – these days as far as Filipino movies are concerned is The Mistress, the reunion movie of box-office heavyweights and much-admired love team of John Lloyd Cruz (JD) and Bea Alonzo (Sari) whose last film together was “Miss You Like Crazy” two years ago. People are talking about The Mistress not only because of the duo’s daring roles and the adult theme of the film, but because it is raking in at the box-office in the Philippines, grossing P140 million already in just a week since it opened on September 12, according to Box Office Mojo, beating “Resident Evil: Retibution”. The film has also played before enthusiastic viewers in Nice, France and Auckland, New Zealand where the TFC regional offices conducted screenings. John Lloyd and Bea graced the premiere in Nice as part of the region’s One Kapamilya Go event last September 15.

Helmed by acclaimed writer-director Olivia M. Lamasan, The Mistress is not much a cautionary tale on the perils of adultery, but more of a story on how certain narcissistic drives and impulses - sometimes masked as personal sacrifices - could cause many to make tough, but ultimately, morally indefensible choices. If a woman is a struggling breadwinner, is it acceptable for her to have an affair with a rich benefactor? Should you carry a relationship with your father’s mistress even if you truly love her? Can love ever justify a wrongdoing?

Critics have raved over the textured portrayals of John Lloyd, seasoned actor Ronaldo Valdez as JD’s father, and comebacking Hilda Koronel as JD’s mother. But most of the praise, so far, went to Bea Alonzo for the maturity and depth of emotions which she injected into the role of a mistress, a character not normally sympathized with. As early as now, awards buzz has started for Bea.

Catch Bea, John Lloyd, Ronaldo and Hilda in The Mistress in the following cities and dates:

September 21-27

MILPITAS
Century Great Mall
1010 Great Mall Drive
Milpitas, CA 95035

SAN BRUNO
Century at Tanforan
1188 El Camino Real
San Bruno, CA 94066

SANTA CLARA
AMC Mercado 20
3111 Mission College Blvd
Santa Clara, CA 95054

UNION CITY
Century 25
32100 Union Landing
Union City, CA 94587

SACRAMENTO
Century Laguna 16
9349 Big Horn Blvd.
Elk Grove, CA 95758

LOS ANGELES-CERRITOS
Edwards Cerritos Stadium
12761 Towne Center Drive
Cerritos, CA 90701

LOS ANGELES – ORANGE
Orange Stadium Promenade
1701 W. Katella Avenue
Orange, CA 92867

SAN DIEGO
UA Horton Plaza
475 Horton Plaza
San Diego, CA 92101

SEATTLE
Parkway Plaza Stadium 12
5910 South 180th Street
Tukwila, WA 98188

LAS VEGAS
Regal Village Square Stadium
9400 W. Sahara Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89058

CHICAGO
Pickwick Theatre
5 South Prospect Ave
Park Ridge, IL 60068

DALLAS
The Legacy
7201 Central Expressway Suite #100
Plano, TX 75025

HOUSTON
Tinseltown USA
12920 NW Freeway
Houston, TX 77040

NEW JERSEY - BERGENFIELD
Clearview Bergenfield Cinemas
58 South Washington Avenue
Bergenfield, NJ 07621

NEW JERSEY - CLIFTON
Clearview Allwood Theatre
96 Market Street
Clifton, NJ 07012

NEW JERSEY – HOBOKEN
Clearview Hoboken Cinemas
409 14th Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030

VIRGINIA BEACH
Cinemark 18
880 North Military Hwy
Norfolk, VA 23502

HAWAII
Pearlridge West Theatres
98 - 1005 Moanalua Road
Aiea, HI 96701

For more information, please visit www.abs-cbnglobalmovies.com. Check also the trailer at http://youtu.be/DLSj41DteOU