Nine years after “Bar Boys” became a defining portrait of law school life and friendship, director Kip Oebanda revisits his most celebrated work with “Bar Boys: After School”, an official entry in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival opening in cinemas nationwide on December 25.
Reuniting the original barkada—Rocco Nacino as Atty. Torran Garcia, Enzo Pineda as Atty. Chris Carlson, Carlo Aquino as Atty. Erik Vicencio, and Kean Cipriano as Josh Zuñiga—the film picks up nearly a decade after the original. Now established lawyers, the four friends reunite only to face a deeply personal crisis involving their beloved mentor, Justice Hernandez, once again portrayed by Odette Khan. As they step in to care for her, they are confronted with questions of integrity, responsibility, and the cost of the ideals they once fiercely guarded.
Joining them is a new generation of characters played by Will Ashley, Emilio Daez, Klarisse de Guzman, Sassa Gurl, Glaiza de Castro, and Therese Malvar—faces that bridge Millennial and Gen Z perspectives.
Though Ashley, Daez, and de Guzman rose to prominence through “Pinoy Big Brother”, Oebanda stresses they were cast long before the fame, chosen purely for how closely they fit the roles.
Described by Oebanda as a “hangout film,” “After School” leans into the quiet pressures of adulthood—family, burnout, and social inequality—while widening its lens beyond the hyper-masculine tone of the first film.
With more women and queer characters, “Bar Boys: After School” deliberately widens its perspective, rejecting shallow portrayals of Gen Z and embracing the idea that learning flows in both directions.
The sequel also explores what it truly means to be a lawyer in the Philippines today, while paying homage to mentors and the idea of passing the torch to the next generation.
Reflective but hopeful, “Bar Boys: After School” reminds viewers that life remains the toughest teacher and the fight for justice, though exhausting, continues.
