Warning: This article contains spoilers.
How does one determine whether to seek treatment when faced with a potentially terminal illness? Do you go on with life and try to spend the rest of your numbered days living as you wish, or do you choose to go through difficult treatment after treatment in hopes of extending your life?
For Mama Baby, she’s certain when her cancer returns that her answer is to live with as much happiness as possible, even forgoing telling her family of the relapse. However when the family finds out, they grow worried and try to persuade her to seek treatment. The family comes to an agreement — her sons must buy her VIP tickets to see her favorite actor, Park Seo Joon, for her to agree to chemotherapy and radiation. This kicks off a journey for her sons, Tupe, Leo, and Brad, and her granddaughter (who is more like a daughter) Geri, as they search for ways to find those tickets and keep their Mama alive. Along the way, the family winds up finding more than just cancer treatments or tickets—they end up rediscovering a familial bond and love that was once lost, all while pursuing the same goal of saving Mama.
Ahead of its release in U.S. theatres, Asia Blooming spoke with director Cathy Garcia-Sampana and actor Joshua Garcia who plays Brad, the middle son, about the film and its making.
Director Garcia-Sampana is no stranger to Filipino film success as the director behind Hello, Love and Hello Love, Again. This time, however, she wanted to create a film that wasn’t focused on romance. “When we talked about it, I just thought it was about time to make another family drama, because the last time was a few years ago, before the pandemic. So maybe we need a good cry now,” she began. “It all started with this idea. What if there’s a cancer patient who doesn’t want to go through with, you know, the healing process, and instead, just wants to meet the greatest oppa of her life? I liked it because it immediately takes off the heaviness of the premise of death and cancer, which is, like, a sure drama element. I don’t like making super dramatic films, and I wanted to inject little giggles and laughs here and there, so that’s how we proceeded.”
Though intending to make a somewhat lighthearted film, the topic of cancer and death is undeniably a sensitive one, which is why the director and her cast paid extra attention to it. As such, Director Garcia-Sampana took time to meet and visit patients and survivors to hear their input. “The cancer patients themselves and the survivors and the families who have lost theirs [loved ones] were kind enough to tell us their stories, and most of the scenes that you watch in the films are from them, taken from real life situations.” For actors like Joshua Garcia, hearing those stories and seeing the respect given by the director and team also encouraged the cast to do their best as well. “It’s part of our job to feel every emotion that the character needs, so there was a lot of respect there. If you have a parent that has cancer, it’s really hard [so we did our best to portray that].”
Just as the cast put their trust in the director to create a film that was, in her words, a “merry balance between lightness and heaviness,” she also trusted her actors to perform their roles. “My actors were all angels on the set, and I did not have any problem with them. But Joshua is the most quiet person amongst the family, and he really fits into that Brad mode. When I visited them in their Airbnb, he was a bit different, but when he was on my set, I saw a lot of Brad in him. Brad’s character is very not Joshua, so he would always come up to me and ask, ‘Director, is this right?’ He did that for few days and after that, he did it on his own. It was like his second skin.” Garcia himself admitted he was quite different from his character in reality, but that only made him love portraying him even more. “I really enjoyed portraying Brad, because he was really different from me, and characters like that get me out of my comfort zone,” he began. “I love Brad, and I love what he’s doing for his family. I just loved his character and was so glad they gave him to me.”
In one particular scene towards the end of the film, audiences were truly able to experience Garcia’s intense performance as Brad exploded at his older brother Tupe and at Mama Baby, letting his lifelong frustrations and emotions out in an emotional monologue. “It took me three hours to do that scene,” Garcia shared. “It was really hard for me to get angry because I’m not that kind of person. But, with the director’s help and the cast members that were so involved in that scene, they really were the ones preparing me for the heavy scene. It was certainly a group effort, so I’m thankful that I have that kind of relationship with my castmates.” Even director Garcia-Sampana was impressed with this particular moment and its delivery. “I knew in my heart he would deliver,” she began. “I knew that every line of it was his, and he owned it. When I was watching the post production, I said the actors were gone. I didn’t see any of them, and truly only saw their characters.”
Just as the director mentioned, however, the movie was about balance, and finding little joys even when faced with the toughest situations. One of Garcia’s favorite scenes to film was the epitome of that lightness that was interwoven into the film. “There’s a scene where the siblings, we were singing in the van,” he shared of a fun moment his character Brad, his brothers Tupe and Leo, and his niece Geri were singing a silly song together in the van on the way home after failing to obtain tickets to the fanmeeting. “That scene [stands out to me] because it was so raw. The song was created in that moment just while we were doing the scene. It was JK’s [Juan Kalos Labajo who plays the youngest brother, Leo] idea,” he said.
As the characters grow and rekindle their family bond, the film ultimately celebrates human connection and family love. “I became very proud of Brad,” Garcia began. “He started choosing what his heart wants after he spent such a long period of time taking care of his family, and seeing that made me so proud.” For director Garcia-Sampana, that growth and learning to love your family but also yourself is what the film was all about. “MEET, GREET & BYE is love for family,” she started. “It is my love letter to all who watch it, whether you’re a parent, you’re a child, or you’re a sister or a brother. This movie is for you, and to remind you to love your loved ones more.”
MEET, GREET & BYE will hit select theatres in the U.S. on November 14th. Tickets are available now and can be found here.
