| Isa Pa with Feelings | |
| Director: | Prime Cruz |
| Music: | Richard Gonzales |
| Cinematography: | Tey Clamor |
| Editing: | Benjamin Tolentino |
| Distributor: | Star Cinema |
| Runtime: | 100 minutes |
| Country: | Philippines |
| Gross: | [1] |
Isa Pa with Feelings is a 2019 Filipino romantic comedy film directed by Prime Cruz from a story and screenplay written by Jen Chuaunsu and Katherine S. Labatyen.[2] It stars Maine Mendoza and Carlo Aquino, with the supporting casts including Lotlot de Leon, Cris Villanueva, and Nikki Valdez.
Produced by Black Sheep Productions, in association with APT Entertainment, the film was theatrically released by Star Cinema on October 16, 2019.[3] As of April 20, 2021, it is available on Netflix.[4] [2]
An architect student, Mara, takes a break from studying by dancing on her balcony where her next-door neighbor happens to see her. She turns around mid-dancing to find him smiling and she retreats inside feeling embarrassed. After her exams, she visits her family in the countryside where a billboard of her face congratulating her on passing the exam is in front of the house for all to see. She enters the house to argue about it but when her dad justifies it as a sure thing because she is making his dreams come true, she leaves him be. As more families show up, she turns her attention to Hailey, her deaf niece. She tells both her and her mom that she has signed up for a sign language class to communicate with Hailey much to the family's delight.
When Mara enters the architecture firm where she's been interning, her co-interns ignore her greetings and turn away. She finds out that she failed her board exams. She shows up to sign language class and her teacher turns out to be her next-door neighbor, Gali. They formally introduce themselves and proceed to learn basic sign language phrases. When she flatly signs the phrase "I'm sorry", Gali presses her to do the sign again "with feelings" because facial expressions are key to communicating in sign language.
They become friends and slowly fall in love. Eventually, they realize how their deaf and hearing worlds could drive each other apart.