Pendong | The movie
Pendong is a comedy-drama that revolves around three friends who take on a journey in finding oneself.
Bingo Cruz (Alwyn Uytingco) thinks he’s had the perfect and complete life – and ultimately deserves the Beetle car as his college graduation gift. This is after being the goody-goody son who remorsefully follows the strict codes of his parents for years. But when his mother reveals that his deceased father wasn’t his real dad – and that his biological father lives and owns a business in a far-flung province up north, he will gather his childhood friends,
Calvin Lopez (Will Devaughn) – a moviestar, and Jay Salvacion (Felix Roco) – a college dropout, to go on in a masked road trip finding his dad.
Calvin is getting tired of his busy showbiz schedules that he longs to have a time for himself. This trip is an escape for him.
Jay doesn’t seem to know his priorities – his education suffers – as his lovelife seems to sit on top of it. This trip is a time to reevaluate.
Along the way, the Beetle – although has remained to be a road novelty and a subject of that classic Pendong game where a man hits someone who is standing next when he sees a Beetle [popularly called as Kotseng Kuba] – will be the cause of numerous mishaps along the way.
They will pick up a sexy, vixen lady LEXY (Xaviera Iglesias) – who becomes the subject of their trip’s desire. Lexy will instead give them not just hard-ons but will put them between a rock and a hard place eventually.
As their situation escalates into worse times – funny but bumpy episodes will prove to be a relief in their long and arduous journey.
Until they discover in the end that they should’ve not gone further looking – as search for answers have already been inside them, near them – they just have to learn it and realize for themselves.
Among other movies directed by the young filmmaker Sean Lim, he is more attached to this film as he himself also a beetle fanatic and owns a 1971 volkswagen which was used in the said movie. Most of the scenes are based on various experiences with car owners getting series of unexpected events and how they dealt with it, has become one of their unforgettable moments in their lives.