Sunshine 2024

Nineteen-year-old Sunshine, Maris Racal, trains for a last shot at the national gymnastics team and the Olympic stage, chasing a dream that feels almost within reach. She shares a small, fraying home life with Geleen, Jennica Garcia her older sister who once wore the leotard herself and now raises their infant daughter Gracie, and with Rod, Bon Andrew Lentejas their younger brother. The family dynamic is threaded with ambition, sacrifice, and the quiet fear that the body may betray its own promises.

During a routine practice, Sunshine’s longtime coach, Eden, Meryll Soriano notices a troubling change as Sunshine visibly gains weight and then collapses from faintness. A separate coach asks Sunshine when she last menstruated, a question that leaves her unsettled and unsure. Confronted by this inexplicable sign, Sunshine bolts from the gym, desperate to understand what is happening to her body. A pregnancy test confirms the unthinkable: she is expecting.

She keeps the news to herself, fearing that any disclosure could derail the chance to compete. In a desperate bid to control the situation, Sunshine seeks abortifacients in Quiapo, but the encounter is jolting and unsettling, underscored by an unnamed Girl who rebukes her harshly. The encounter lingers in Sunshine’s mind as she contemplates the weight of what lies ahead.

Sunshine turns to her boyfriend, Miggy—referred to in the story as Miggs—Elijah Canlas. Miggy’s reaction is disappointingly blunt; he dismisses the pregnancy and urges her to consider ending it. The rift between them grows as Sunshine’s anger flares. In a bold act of retaliation, she smashes Miggy’s car windshield with a sledgehammer, a weapon she had borrowed from the same unnamed Girl, an act that makes the consequences feel all too real and irreversible.

That night, Sunshine searches for an escape through partying with her friend Thea, Xyriel Manabat. She hopes to dull the emotional storm by drinking, by pretending the world doesn’t exist for a moment. But the party proves hollow, and after crossing paths with the unnamed Girl again, Sunshine feels the pull of truth. She confesses her pregnancy to Thea, a moment that complicates their friendship and deepens Sunshine’s sense of isolation. To secure money for another attempt at terminating the pregnancy, Sunshine pressures Miggy once more, a choice that underscores the precarious balance between personal desire and responsibility.

A motel becomes the stage for a painful and chaotic abortive attempt. Sunshine bleeds heavily and collapses in excruciating pain, only to be restrained by the Girl in a fragile, almost ritual moment of care. She is rushed to the hospital where a bigoted obstetrician unloads cruel, judgmental remarks, making Sunshine feel small and exposed. It is Geleen who arrives during this crisis, having followed the signs—Sunshine’s vomiting while caring for Gracie tipped her off. Geleen urges Sunshine to rest, to let go of the illusion that gymnastics alone can carry her through life’s hardest moments. Sunshine, however, clings to the belief that the gym is not just a sport but a lifeline.

Rumors swirl around Sunshine’s pregnancy, prompting Eden to issue a stern warning that she must separate her personal turmoil from her athletic commitments or risk losing her place on the team. Sunshine tries to shut out the noise, even as she purchases another abortifacient. Along the way, she meets Mary Grace, a 13-year-old who—like Sunshine—exists at a crossroads of vulnerability and decision. Mary Grace reveals she is pregnant and speaks of the age and power imbalance that brought her to this point—she was impregnated by her uncle, Bobot, Ron Capinding. Sunshine’s empathy strengthens; she gives Mary Grace money to buy the tools to end her pregnancy, a moment of fragile solidarity that contrasts with her own precarious situation.

As the circle tightens, Sunshine encounters Ariana, a runaway facing abuse, portrayed by JM Garcia. Ariana’s presence introduces another strand to the story: a young voice who senses danger in their shared world and brings a sense of urgency to the group’s plight. The three—Sunshine, the Girl, and Ariana—find themselves drawn together as the situation at home darkens. Ariana’s intuition about danger in their homes pushes everyone to move with more care and caution.

The danger becomes painfully concrete when Mary Grace is found bleeding after attempting to terminate on her own in a motel. The hospital faces legal fears about assisting with abortions, but a compassionate doctor—Dr. Helena—Angeli Bayani—agrees to help in a discreet, empathetic manner. Mary Grace survives, but she loses her child. Sunshine’s heart swells with a protective, motherly instinct toward Mary Grace, and she consoles the young girl, even as the Girl searches for Ariana and eventually disappears. Sunshine shares what happened with Mary Grace’s mother, only to discover her mother is entangled in a problematic relationship with Bobot, a shocking confrontation that pushes Sunshine to violence: she strikes Bobot with a bottle and escapes.

The drama moves toward a critical juncture when Thea secures an appointment at Dr. Helena’s clinic for Sunshine’s abortion. At home, Sunshine endures another scene of mixed emotions as Miggy and his father, Pastor Jaime, Piolo Pascual, visit. Miggy offers a hollow apology, and Jaime presents a paternal, if complicated, proposal to support the child. Sunshine, however, remains resolute, declaring that she does not want to be a mother. Geleen steps in with quiet firmness, offering her unconditional support and asking the men to leave so Sunshine can decide for herself.

As the days pass, Sunshine returns to the gym, layering her strength training with the unsettling reality that the Girl has reappeared to watch her routine. Face-to-face with the mirror of her choices, Sunshine asks the Girl if she understands what she decided, and the Girl answers with a tearful, affirming embrace. The film’s most intimate revelation comes with this moment: the Girl is Sunshine’s unborn child, a destiny rewritten by the choices that followed.

In the ending, Sunshine steps onto the competition floor, surrounded by the family and coaches who have stood by her through every twist of fear, doubt, and determination. The crowd’s cheers blend with the steady beat of her own resilience as she competes, embodying the complex truth that a life’s path can weave through pain, care, challenge, and courage. The story closes on a note of hard-won hope, with Sunshine moving forward in the sport she loves and the family that loves her back, united in their belief that she can be more than what fear allows.