Reflections on ‘Open Endings’ (not a film review)

Content Warning: This read was not written for kids. Discretion is advised for ages 18 and below.

Content Warning (again): This reflection contains film spoilers. Read at your own risk.

I walked out of the 2025 Cinemalaya Open Endings screening questioning my queer experiences. Have I not put myself out there enough? Am I a fake Filipino tomboy? Am I boring?

Perhaps the initial disconnect with the film’s premise was purely structural. I couldn’t relate to the romantic-turned-platonic web of relationships between the four protagonists. What do you mean a girl you once kissed could be a girl you’ll eventually call sis? I’m not friends with my ex, but I do think we could be civil with each other. I never caught feelings for any long-time friend, because I see them as sisters. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve done questionable things for girls I’ve liked. There are just lines I choose not to cross.

I do note that I write this from the lens of someone who is currently navigating her biromantic asexuality. I don’t see myself ending up with a man like Hannah (Girl, what are you doing?! Kick ka sa GC. Jk!) I can’t do one-time things. I guess this is where the gap stems from as well: my view of intimacy and commitment doesn’t always align with the high-octane emotional and physical stakes on screen.

Past looking back at my own experiences, certain scenes called for recalling my elementary to high school observations at an exclusive Catholic school. And then it hit me. My childhood gay best friend could very well star in this film! God, the wild intersection of their exes and connections is a plot in its own. So it’s safe to say I’ve seen the Open Endings story manifest in real life, just vicariously.

As I sat down with my thoughts, I realized that failing to find a fitting image of my life in the narrative didn’t mean I couldn’t find myself in the fragments. I wasn’t a piece in the plot, but select feelings fit.

Because in certain ways, I have been every single one of HanChaKitHa. I’ve been the sensitive, mothering friend like Hannah, welcoming people into my space and even cooking as a love language. Most times, I strive to be the dependable Charlie, always here for everyone. I’d criticize anyone trying to get with any of my besties. Sarcastically polite at first, but fierce when needed. I hope my favorite gays and girls have found at least one of my unfiltered lines funny. We all need a Kit who brings a sense of relief and silliness to the room when the air gets heavy. And finally, more times than I care to admit, I’ve been Mihan. I’ve held back from risking it all because the potential cost of heartbreak felt like something I just couldn’t afford.

Open Endings works powerfully because it captures the realities that shape our sapphic circles. Beyond embracing and illustrating the messy, tangled links between us gay girls, it reminds us of the roles we’ve played in others’ lives. A friend. A best friend. A lover. An ex. A friend who could be a lover. A partner who can’t understand why you’re still friends with your ex. Someone special you see every weekend. Someone you try not to see or hear from again, but still do.

Between the yearning, the unrequited, and the love that’s returned just right, we find ourselves coming back because maybe there is no safer place we know than next to each other. It’s a sappy truth that nobody will ever truly understand unless they’ve lived it. To be decoded so effortlessly by another is a lasting kind of wonder, ruining any future connection that requires even the slightest bit of translation. The reactions made in chorus in the cinema were testaments to this. We just get each other.

If anything, the film reminded me that when all is said and done, the only thing that can follow us is the love we hold back. So love who you love, while you can! As long as you’re not hurting anyone along the way. Because for a community like ours, most of the loves that meet an ending are still worth keeping open 🌈

Thank you, Open Endings, for bringing a bunch of gay girls back to the cinemas through a story that many have long yearned to see. May the magic you’ve created here never ever meet its own end ✨

Open Endings is showing in ONLY 46 cinemas nationwide as of writing. Make a tomboy’s day and take them to the cinema! The presence of our stories on the big screen plays a role in the fight for visibility and acceptance. The goal is to keep telling queer narratives until we no longer have to highlight them for them to be understood.