Starfish (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

Starfish is a 20-minute Philippine short about a son returning home with the burden of a city and the secrets of his survival. His arrival confronts a household shaped by his father’s unquestioning loyalty, against a backdrop marked by sex work and systemic oppression.

Starfish is a 2026 Philippine short film directed by John Clite Apolinar and written by Adelbert Abrigonda. Running 20 minutes, the Tagalog-language drama centers on a son who returns home carrying difficult knowledge about both the city he left and the way he survived it.

The film places that return inside a suffocating family environment shaped by the father’s blind loyalty. Its listed keywords, “sex worker” and “systemic oppression,” point to wider social pressures surrounding the personal conflict without revealing more than the supplied synopsis confirms.

Starfish movie details

Story without spoilers

A returning son comes back home carrying the weight of the city and secrets connected to his survival there. His arrival brings those hidden experiences into a household constrained by his father’s unquestioning loyalty. Starfish sets this family-centered return against social conditions associated with sex work and systemic oppression.

What to expect

Viewers can expect a compact, serious drama built around a homecoming and the tension between private survival and larger social pressures. The 20-minute runtime suggests a focused narrative rather than an expansive character study. The synopsis emphasizes secrecy, family strain and the consequences of loyalty, while the keywords indicate difficult social subject matter.

Cast and creative team

VR Relosa plays Boyet, with Nour Hooshmand as Pia, Floyd Tena as Domeng, Jake Ulan as Jimboy and Dads Valencia as the Mayor. John Clite Apolinar directs Starfish, and Adelbert Abrigonda is credited as its writer.

• VR Relosa as Boyet
• Nour Hooshmand as Pia
• Floyd Tena as Domeng
• Jake Ulan as Jimboy
• Dads Valencia as Mayor

Release and production context

Starfish is listed as a 2026 release from the Philippines, with a release date of September 23, 2026. It has a runtime of 20 minutes and is spoken in Tagalog. Tasá Productions is the listed production company. The film’s status is recorded as Released.

Production companies: Tasá Productions

Starfish official trailer

Watch the official trailer on YouTube

Movies Dock view

With its short runtime and socially grounded premise, Starfish frames a return home as the meeting point between family loyalty, concealed survival and broader oppression. The available details present it as a concentrated Philippine short film led by a returning son and the pressures waiting for him at home.

Film data:
TMDB