Vlad Bunoan

Ruby Ruiz in ‘Status: Rejected.’ Screengrab/YouTube

Article (news)

Fred Hawson

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786755567603Screenshot 2026-08-15 at 8.50.51 AM.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Ruby Ruiz in ‘Status: Rejected.’ Screengrab/YouTube</div>Virginia &quot;Biring&quot; Divinagracia (Ruby Ruiz) had tried to apply for a US tourist visa five times, but was always declined. She wanted to go in order to meet up with her son Clark (Karl Medina), had been staying the US illegally for several years already. She now lived with her daughter Anna (Alessandra de Rossi), who had a teenage daughter Sophie (Yani Villaosa). Biring&#x27;s relationship with Anna was strained by their financial woes. Biring liked going out with her friend Tessie (Beverly Salviejo), buying used clothes at the ukay-ukay or hanging out at the red light district. Tessie came up with the idea for Biring to updating her social media profile so she can attract an American boyfriend. One night, Biring accepted a friend request from an American veteran soldier named Steve Johnson. When Steve initiated a chat, Biring replied out of curiosity. Soon, an online romance bloomed. Ruby Ruiz has been working in bit roles since 1984, but had her big career breakthrough in &quot;Ekstra&quot; (Cinemalaya 2013) which won her awards. Since then, she has been a very visible staple of several indie films that had a role for a senior actress, big or small. She soon got to play lead roles in films like &quot;Iska&quot; (Cinemalaya 2019), &quot;Tigkiwili&quot; (2025), &quot;First Light&quot; (2026), and even played Nicole Kidman&#x27;s nanny in the series &quot;Expats&quot; (2024). As expected, Ruiz went all in in her quirky yet sensitive portrayal of Biring in this latest lead role of hers. Ruiz&#x27;s Biring was a lonely old woman desperately looking for love, even if he was just an online presence. We witness her falling head over heels in love with this mysterious sweet-talker, who even managed to arouse her dormant libido. The whole time, she makes us worry about her, caring if she was just the latest victim of an elaborate scammer. Alessandra de Rossi&#x27;s Anna had been angry all her life for being forced to take up a course she didn&#x27;t like and trapped to do a demeaning job. This caused her to be bitter at her mother, and hard on her daughter. Beverly Salviejo&#x27;s Tessie was joie de vivre personified in contrast to Biring&#x27;s misery. They weren&#x27;t too clear about what happened to Tessie at the end, something I felt lacking in the story. But we get to hear Salviejo&#x27;s soulful singing here as she unloaded her inner frustrations at a karaoke bar. Director and co-writer Vahn Leinard C. Pascual started his filmmaking career with queer short films. His feature directorial debut had a topic outside his usual wheelhouse, but being a self-confessed &quot;lola&#x27;s boy,&quot; his sincerity and love for his lead character was quite palpable. Along with the work of cinematographer Martika Ramirez Escobar and production designer Marielle Hizon, Pascual drew us deeper into Biring&#x27;s loneliness and second coming-of-age. <div> </div>This review was originally published in the author&#x27;s blog, “<a href="https://said-fred.blogspot.com/2026/08/cinemalaya-2026-review-of-status.html">Fred Said</a>.”

Ruby Ruiz delivers a tender, funny and quietly heartbreaking performance as a lonely woman who finds herself falling for an American stranger online in ‘Status: Rejected.’

Ruby Ruiz delivers a tender, funny and quietly heartbreaking performance as a lonely woman who finds herself falling for an American stranger online in ‘Status: Rejected.’

Cinemalaya review: Ruby Ruiz finds love online in ‘Status: Rejected’

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Cinemalaya review: Ruby Ruiz finds love online in ‘Status: Rejected’

Fred Hawson

Published August 15, 2026 09:15 AM PHT

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movie review

Cinemalaya

Ruby Ruiz

Status Rejected

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