Call Me Alma

Alma, Azi Acosta, is a high-end bar girl. She has decided that prostitution is her profession, her life, her means to achieve her dreams and her happiness. She caters to all men who can afford her price. But she favors two men: a rich lawyer and a bank executive whom she calls Tiger Joe and Kabayo respectively. Another regular customer is a student who has professed his undying love for her. Alma's routine life is disturbed when Sheila, Jaclyn Jose, an aging street prostitute, introduces herself to Alma as her mother who sold her to strangers after birth. This meeting will open the door to Alma's past that she has refused to confront. A long-lost ailing mother, the search for a father, and the truths of a painful past will test the values of these two women who have become victims of poverty and men. In the end, Alma and Sheila will make choices that will define them not only as individuals but as women.

Directed by Mac Alejandre, Call Me Alma leans on a strong ensemble — Azi Acosta, Jaclyn Jose, Mon Confiado — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 2023.