Partners in Crime 2023

Vice Ganda stars as Jack Cayanan, the charismatic host of the hit show Happy Hour with Jack, whose all-consuming career leaves little room for family. When Jack’s voice suddenly goes hoarse and doctors confirm swollen vocal folds, he is urged to rest. Yet he resists, fearing it would disappoint his fans. The strain triggers a flood of memories about his family and, in particular, his former partner, Ivana Alawi as Barbara Nicole Rose Albano, with whom he once formed a dynamic duo during Bingo events that fans adored. The two had built a strong on-screen chemistry as a hosting pair—nicknamed JaBar—even as their personal history grew more complicated. After a tense breakup during a beauty pageant where Jack was the sole host and Barbara felt sidelined, their relationship fractured, and Jack is left insisting they were never in a real romance.

Despite his illness, Jack soldiers on with the show, only to be surprised when his former partner appears again, now under the alias Rose, a rising social media influencer who has reinvented herself. This reunion fans a fierce rivalry, but the network proposes a daring plan: an exclusive interview with Don Bill Libme, the Philippines’ wealthiest man who has somehow survived 99 assassination attempts. To land the interview, Jack and Rose decide to pose as servants at Don Bill’s 75th birthday party.

The disguise begins with meticulous detail. Jack tamps down his feature with a mole on his left cheek, while Rose arrives with a matching disguise—a mole on her right cheek—to fool any prying eyes. A sharp-eyed maid named Kookai notices something familiar about them, but Jack begs her to stay quiet. The evening escalates quickly when Don Bill’s aide signals trouble, prompting a quick chase that ends in a grim discovery: Don Bill lies dead in his room, a syringe resting in his flesh. Among the pandemonium, the maid Marites glimpses a confused Rose stabbing the corpse, intensifying the mystery.

A cryptic caller then appears, delivering a taunting threat: a video that shows Rose stabbing Don Bill will be released unless Jack and Rose comply with a chilling demand. The caller hints that one of Don Bill’s own children might be the killer, complicating matters further. The caller’s demands require a set of three special coins—green, blue, and pink—hidden in rooms that are guarded by the living deadweight of the house: the mansion itself, with its secrets. The catch is that the key to those rooms is Don Bill himself, and so the pair drag his body along as they chase these clues.

They first venture to the Blue Room, where the challenge set by Don Bill’s holographic image requires them to imitate facial expressions and snapshots of past moments. They must do this correctly, or a burglar alarm will trigger. Jack explains to Rose that he never meant to hurt her, and the pair manages to mirror the right expressions just enough; Rose falters twice, but Jack adapts and secures the Blue Coin. The Blue Room scene reveals a layer of their complicated history, yet it also marks the first coin claimed through teamwork.

Next, in the Green Room, their allies Maren and Jorge—two trusted friends who work security—shadow them. Jack asks them to safeguard Don Bill’s vulnerable children as the two continue with the game. They must perform a flawless rendition of a popular song, scoring a perfect 100 while dancing through the tension of a live bomb-like countdown. They launch into “Salamat” by Yeng Constantino, their theme, and, as the performance crescendos, the spirit of the era they’re chasing sweeps through the room. Don Bill’s hologram proclaims that whoever sings first should carry on singing to the end, and Jack and Rose push through the final moments, imitating the styles of Jaya, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Kris Aquino, and Regine Velasquez to claim the Green Coin.

As they scramble for the Pink Coin, a chaotic birthday party erupts, forcing them to present Don Bill’s corpse, which vanishes in the confusion. Jack suspects the killer has spirited the body to the Pink Room. In that room, Carlos—the mansion’s head of security played by Enchong Dee—already holds the Pink Coin. The two discover that Carlos is the mysterious caller and the man who killed Don Bill. The trio’s pursuit becomes a scramble, and a frantic chase erupts as Jack, Rose, Carlos, and his men collide with Liezel and Don Bill’s children, who recognize Jack and Rose from the interviews and the charisma of their past as JaBar.

Carlos claims that Jack and Rose killed Don Bill, but the couple maintain their innocence. The truth begins to emerge when Marites, via a Ouija board, channels Don Bill’s spirit. The ghost-like presence accuses Carlos of funding the assassinations and wielding the weapons Don Bill had survived, and at the same time Don Bill’s spirit reveals the deeper motive: Carlos had begged Don Bill for money for his mother’s surgery, an offer the mogul refused. The tension peaks as Don Bill’s soul reveals more hidden evidence and Carlos moves to claim a vault’s secret chamber, attempting to unlock it with the same coins. But the vault is empty — a stark reminder that Don Bill’s invitations and games were a staged trap to unmask the killer.

In the aftermath, Carlos is arrested, and Rose urges Jack to go home to his family and make peace with them. The narrative closes on a warm note: Jack returns to his loved ones to celebrate his father Bert’s birthday, while Rose steps in as a substitute host for the show. The story wraps with a Christmas celebration that binds Jack, Rose, and their families, offering a sense of closure and a future where Jaime-like tension transforms into partnership and reconciliation.