The film premiered in Philippine cinemas on December 25, 2019, as one of the official entries to the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival.[3]
The Mall, The Merrier marks the first on-screen collaboration between Anne Curtis and Vice Ganda, both of whom are regular hosts on the noontime variety show It's Showtime.[4][5][6]
Plot
Tanacio and Mola Molina, a couple, own Tamol Mall and are blessed with two children, Moises/Moira and Morisette. However, Tanacio and Mola later separate. Morisette joins her mother while Moira stays with her father. Years later, Moira now manages the mall while Morisette works as editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine in Australia, with Mola. Tanacio and Mola are about to fly to Dubai, but both siblings tell them not to go. Moira is shocked by the news that both of his parents had died in a plane crash. Morisette comes home and starts a feud with her brother. During the reading of Tanacio's last will and testament, the lawyer finds that he had left the last page in his home in Zamboanga. Morissette makes a hostile takeover of the mall, but Moira affirms his right as the rightful owner by being the eldest son. Soon, both siblings fight in a selling match, where whoever makes the most sales owns the mall. Moira and Morisette fight head-to-head to get the most sales. In the end, they are both tied. The lawyer comes and reads the final portion of the last will and testament, which reveals that Tanacio gave and bequeathed the mall to his only legitimate child, who is Morisette. Moira, however, insists that they are two. The lawyer further says that Mola was already pregnant with Moira when Tanacio married her. With no other choice, Moira accepts his defeat and decides to leave, but Morisette receives a call from her magazine, asking her to return to Australia.
Moira sees a vault behind his parents' wedding photo. Upon opening the vault, he sees a book of spells known as "Siquijoraciones", which contains a spell that can make pictures and statues come to life. He reads the spell aloud without noticing a microphone connected to a public announcement system being activated. This causes some of the mall's mannequins, toys, and pictures to come to life. When Moira and Morisette see it, they team up to stop this. In order for the pictures, statues, and mannequins to return to normal, they must read the spell, but the book is taken by a golden cat that came to life. They are stopped by Moody, who works as a mall janitor but is the older sister of Mola, and has been searching for the Siquijoraciones for a long time. Both Moira and Morisette eventually escape the wrath of Moody. Later, they see their old hut. When the mall was built, their old hut was never demolished. There, they see their parents Tanacio and Mola from their wedding photo, which was brought to life. Tanacio asks Moira for forgiveness and thanks him for never leaving his side despite his coldness towards him. Later Moody comes and shares a hug with them. However, at this moment, she takes the Siquijoraciones. Moira, Morisette, Tanacio and Mola fight against them. Just as Moira is about to retake the book, the pages fly around, causing the three to look for the page with the spell. When Morissette finds the spell, she reads it aloud and the statues, pictures, and mannequins return to their original form. Moody is apprehended by mall security. Before vanishing, Mola tells Moira and Morisette to love one another. Morissette also vanishes completely and when he goes back to the office, he finds out that Morisette's standee was with him the whole time. He sees the real Morisette tied up. She asks for forgiveness from him and reveals that she saw everything. Morissette is about to leave for Australia after she saw how those in the mall loved Moira but returns to the mall because she forgot her passport. She also finds out about the Siquijoraciones, but is tied up by the standee of her who came to life. In the end, both siblings renovate and manage the mall.
The development for The Mall, The Merrier was first confirmed in April 2019, when lead actor Vice Ganda announced that he would star together with Anne Curtis in a then-yet-to-be-named comedy film which is intended to be entered for the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival.[5][7][8] The film was shot in Harrison Plaza in Malate, Manila,[9] before it ceased operations on December 31, 2019. The finale scenes were filmed at Marquee Mall in Angeles City.
Release
The Mall, The Merrier premiered in the Philippines on December 25, 2019 as one of the official entries of the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics, despite coming in first at the box office.[10] Most of the criticism was directed at its "non-existent" plot, stale humor and poor use of the shopping mall setting.
Oggs Cruz of Rappler lamented what he saw as a wasted opportunity, stating it is "more of the same – and messier" and "while the settings change or the genre it spoofs shift, the elements remain the same. The comedies are all anchored on mean-spirited hilarity, all utilizing a broad moral lesson to make its abject crassness palatable to the families it caters to," comparing it unfavorably to George Romero's seminal zombie film Dawn of the Dead whose department store setting was used to satirize consumerism.[11]
Conversely, Jocelyn Valle of PEP.ph gave the film a more positive review, praising the cast, special effects and pop culture references, particularly the feud between the Baretto sisters and the network rivalry between ABS-CBN and GMA Network, a scene where Vice's character Moises and a parodic depiction of the living dollAnnabelle from The Conjuring, played by Ruffa Gutierrez, get into a hair-pulling fight and wind up in the premises of the GMA-7 broadcast facility. Valle did, however, criticise the "lack of a strong supporting character for Vice to throw punchlines at and comedic flair" and found Vice's use of a joke pertaining to German dictator Adolf Hitler to be of poor taste in light of Holocaust victims.[12]
The film premiered on KBO from May 1–6, 2020[13] at the time ABS-CBN Channel 2 and its broadcast stations went off air on May 5, 2020, due to the "cease and desist order" given by the National Telecommunications Commission due to expired franchise, and KBO was not affected in this "cease and desist order" (due to the channel is on a digital station that is owned by AMCARA, which has its own franchise and where ABS-CBN had a blocktime agreement with the said station) until June 30, 2020 in Metro Manila and July 1, 2020 nationwide.
The film premiered on A2Z Channel 11 on December 25, 2020, a year after its theatrical release.[16] There were plans to be put on GMA 7 (as part of GMA planned to put Star Cinema produced films) or TV5 (due to Viva Films contract to TV5 was given), but the date isn't announced yet.
