Isang Himala


Isang Himala is a 2024 Philippine musical drama film co-produced and directed by Pepe Diokno from a script he co-wrote with Ricky Lee. It is based on a 2018 theatrical play of the same name, itself an adaptation of the 1982 film Himala. With a large number of the cast originating from theatre, Aicelle Santos and Bituin Escalante reprised their roles from the musical, and the special appearance of Nora Aunor, who played Elsa in the aforementioned film.
Produced by Kapitol Films and UXS, with Creazion Studios handling the distribution, the film was theatrically released on December 25, 2024, as part of the 50th Metro Manila Film Festival. However, it was underperformed at the box office, failing to enter the Top 3 in the top-performing MMFF entries in box-office sales.

Premise

Based on Nora Aunor's Himala, the film traces back the story of Elsa, a visionary turned faith healer of her town.

Cast

  • Aicelle Santos as Elsa, a young woman in Cupang who allegedly saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Santos portrayed Elsa in the 2018 theatrical play directed by Ed Lacson Jr. and reprises the role in the 2024 musical film.
  • Bituin Escalante as Aling Saling, Elsa's mother Escalante played the character in the 2018 play and reprises the role.
  • Floyd Tena as a Priest.
  • David Ezra as Orly, a journalist from Manila saw Elsa
  • Neomi Gonzales as Chayong, a close friend of Elsa.
  • Kakki Teodoro as Nimia, a close friend of Elsa.
  • Vic Robinson as Pilo, a Chayong's boyfriend.
  • Joann Co as Sepa, a believer of the apparition Elsa saw
Nora Aunor, who starred in the 1982 film as Elsa, made a cameo appearance in a movie. A significant portion of the cast of Isang Himala comes from a theatre background.

Production

Isang Himala is a co-production of Kapitol Films and Uxs, Inc. Pepe Diokno will direct the feature film with the screenplay written also by him alongside Ricky Lee.
Isang Himala is based on the theatrical play, Himala: Isang Musikal, which premiered in 2018. The play itself was based on the 1982 film Himala which starred Nora Aunor and directed by Ishmael Bernal
The feature film was announced in July 2024 as one of the first five entries of the 2024 [Metro Manila Film Festival] as a script submission.

Release

As one of the ten official entries of the 50th Metro Manila Film Festival, Isang Himala had its theatrical release in cinemas in the Philippines on December 25, 2024, with four cinemas on the first day and then six cinemas on the second day. The film is also scheduled to premiere at the Manila International Film Festival in Los Angeles on January 30, 2025.

Reception

Box office

It is one of the lowest selling MMFF 2024 entry along with My Future You and Hold Me Close. The film was a Box office bomb due to failed to hit box office hit sales and one of the underrated film of 2024. As of January 2, 2025, the film failed to enter the Top 5 and Top 3 in the top-performing MMFF entries in box-office sales.