Inahing Baka (Mother Maybe)

Short Synopsis

25-year-old Marco, a resilient Filipino, finds himself on the high-energy Japanese game show “Dash for Cash,” a wild competition designed to find the strongest men in Asia through a series of outrageous physical challenges, with a grand prize of 5 million yen. But Marco’s true motive is far from the glitz and glamour of television.

For Marco, Tokyo is not just a city of bright lights and bustling streets. It is the last thread in a lifelong search for his mother, Minda, who vanished when he was just 5. Growing up, Marco believed she left their provincial home to work as a domestic helper in Manila, but her sudden silence turned that hope into an enduring heartache.

For twenty relentless years, Marco clung to the hope of finding her. His tireless search leads him to Tokyo, where a tip suggests Minda might be living. In Tokyo, he tackles the gruelling game show challenges and scours the city’s streets, following every lead, every shadow that might bring him closer to Minda.

And then, against all odds, he finds her. The reunion he longed for, however, shatters into a nightmare. Marco discovers that his mother harbours a dark secret.

Marco’s heart is torn between the horror of this revelation and his love for the woman who brought him into the world. He reaches out, but Minda, consumed by shame and despair, pushes him away.

Marco faces an agonizing dilemma. The days left in Tokyo slip away, each moment a cruel countdown. He yearns to save his mother from her despair, to mend the broken pieces of his family, but the path forward is obscured by the shadows of Minda’s overwhelming guilt.

As Marco grapples with this harrowing reality, he is haunted by the possibility that his journey to Tokyo might be a final farewell rather than a reunion.