She's Dating the Gangster

She's Dating the Gangster is a 2014 Philippine coming-of-age romantic comedy drama film based on the Pop Fiction book of the same name originally published on CandyMag.com's Teen Talk section, which was popularized on Wattpad by Bianca Bernardino under her pen name SGwannaB. The film is directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina, topbilled by Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, together with Dawn Zulueta and Richard Gomez. It was distributed by Star Cinema with the co-production of Summit Media and was released on July 16, 2014, in theatres nationwide as part of its 20th anniversary presentation.

Plot
Kenji delos Reyes delivers a speech during a wedding. However, his son Kenneth causes a scene to Kenji’s disappointment. Kenneth reveals his resentment towards his father and wishes him dead instead of his mother.

The following morning, Kenneth wakes up to learn that the plane to Bicol his father was aboard has crashed. He rushes to the airport to see the list of survivors and meets Kelay, who causes a scene claiming Kenji was her father. Hearing this, Kenneth confronts her and says that he is Kenji's only child. He says that his father is married to Athena Abigail delos Reyes. Kelay responds by showing a picture of a young Kenji with a young girl. The couple in the photograph is the respective doppelgangers of Kenneth and Kelay. Kenneth confronts Kelay about her identity and about the girl in the picture. Kelay reveals that the girl is her aunt Athena who is Kenji's "great love". She tells him that she needs to see his father to let him know that Athena is dying so that she can give Athena a happy ending before she dies. Kenneth refuses to believe her. But at a bus station, Kenneth fails to buy a ticket to Legazpi because of the Holy Week rush, after which Kelay reappears with tickets for both of them. On the way to Legazpi, Kelay tells the tale of Athena Dizon and Kenji back in the 1990s.

The young Kenji was a feared "gangster" who is brokenhearted over Athena Abigail "Abi" Tizon (Kenneth's mother). Wanting to get back together, he has been mistakenly sending his messages to the pager of another girl, Athena Dizon. Athena and Kenji finally meet and realize the mix-up in the messages. To Athena's surprise, Kenji kisses her forcefully and tells her that she will be his pretend girlfriend in order to get Abi jealous. Athena refuses despite Kenji's bullying and pressuring, but eventually gives in when he attempts to jump off the school's rooftop. Athena is treated like a princess in school with Kenji as her bodyguard, who protects her from the jealous girls who bully her. Their pretend relationship becomes real and the two confess their love for each other.

As Kenneth listens to Kelay’s story, he becomes upset realizing everything he knew and felt about his father was wrong. He and Kelay also become drawn to each other. Later, they learn that the plane has crashed in Camarines Sur and there were survivors. Arriving there, Kenneth asks her why his father and Athena never ended up together. Kelay says that all she knows was it was a “big case of bad timing”, and that Kenji and Athena’s love story ended after their return from Bicol.

Kenji takes Athena to Mayon volcano and promise they will return to get married here someday. Athena tells him she will try not to die without revealing her heart condition. Upon returning to Manila, Athena’s father scolds her for going away and reminds her of her medical condition. He wants her to stop seeing Kenji. Athena apologizes but tells her father Kenji is one more reason for her to fight for her life. Kenji stops attending school. Athena and their friends are puzzled as to his whereabouts. Lucas reaches out to Kenneth and picks him and Kelay up to look for Kenji.

In the car, Kenneth asks Lucas what happened between Kenji and Athena. Lucas said that he was asked by Kenji to bring Athena to see him at a hospital. Upon arriving, Athena finds a confined Abi suffering from gastric cancer. Athena learns that Abi broke up with Kenji because of her illness to spare Kenji from the suffering. Lucas admits that he courted Abi knowing she still loved Kenji. Abi wakes up, apologizes to Athena, and asks her to take care of Kenji. Abi’s mother was the one who told Kenji about Abi’s condition. She begs him to help give Abi a reason to live. Athena and Kenji meet at the hallway. Wanting Abi to survive and be happy, Athena breaks up with him and parts ways. She later leaves for the United States, while Kenji and Abi get married and conceive Kenneth. Kelay and Kenneth are upset with the revelations of Lucas, when she suddenly receives a phone call and is told that Athena is now in her final moments. Kelay and Kenneth part ways with Kenneth promising that Athena and Kenji would meet again.

Kenneth finally locates his father in a hospital. An orderly hands Kenji’s belongings to him, among which is a letter he wrote for him. In the letter, Kenji writes that he decided to go to Legazpi to say goodbye to his memories with Athena and to atone for his shortcomings to Abi and Kenneth. When Kenji wakes up, the two reconcile. Days later, Kenneth takes Kenji to a house where he reunites with his old friends. A door opens and Kelay leads Athena out in a wheelchair to his shock. Athena and tells Kenji about her illness and tells him that his love kept her alive through the years. She says she is happy for Kenji and dies in his arms.

Some time after, Kelay wakes up to a phone call telling her that a flight has gone missing and Kenneth was onboard. When she goes to the airport, she makes a scene, shouting that her boyfriend is missing. Kenneth appears to her shock. Kenji also appears and admits being the one who called her. Kenneth asks her if they can have a great love story like Kenji and Athena.

Cast
Several actors and actresses also made their cameo appearance in the film–including Karen Reyes as Bridesmaid, Matutina as Nana Buding, Hyubs Azarcon as Truck Driver, Pooh as News Reporter, Jojit Lorenzo and JM De Guzman as Airline Officers, Rayver Cruz, Patrick Sugui, Carl Ravanes, and Rasheed Rivero as the basketball players, Joross Gamboa and Ketchup Eusebio as the Coach, Janus del Prado as the Bus Ticket Vendor, Joem Bascon as hair stylist, Gerry Bricenio as Bus Conductor, and Olivia Cruz as the Doctor.

Release
Due to the film's huge success, it was screened internationally in selected countries like United States, Canada, Australia, and United Arab Emirates. The film grossed $222,000 after 3 days of showing in North America and after 10 days, the cumulative total was $570,000. The total gross, from the 2-week US and 3-week Canada screenings as well as the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore screenings, is yet to be determined.

Critical response
Philbert Ortiz-Dy of Click the City gave a positive review in the film, stating that She's Dating the Gangster is at its best when it allows kids to be kids. Its portrayal of young, intensely romantic love is really charming, especially placed as it is in this wacky conception of its period setting. He also stated that "The narrative just can't support this pathos. The film begins to apply fantasy logic to really serious topics. [...] This kind of magical thinking just doesn’t mesh well with the real medical terms that the film just trots out."

Box office
According to Star Cinema's advertising manager Mico del Rosario, the film gathered ₱15 million (US$340,000) on its first day of showing. The film grossed ₱251 million in the Philippines per the Annual Report filed by ABS-CBN to the SEC. The worldwide box office of the film is at ₱296 million. With total gross $5,837,612 the movie hit No. 8 on the 2014 Philippine Yearly Box Office.