Goyo: The Boy General

Following the assassination of General Antonio Luna, Gregorio "Goyo" del Pilar, a young and brash general, has been tasked by President Emilio Aguinaldo with hunting down Luna's loyalists in the Philippine Revolutionary Army. During a five-month discharge from combat in Bulacan, Goyo courts a woman named Remedios, the daughter of Don Mariano Nable José, while his unit, which includes his older brother Julian, newly assigned photographer Joven Hernando, and his best friend Vicente Enriquez, captures Angel Bernal, the youngest of the Bernal brothers. They locate Angel's older brother Manuel hiding in Don Mariano's house and torture him into joining Goyo's unit. After Manuel defiantly refuses and insults Goyo, they kill him. Not long after, Aguinaldo joins and promotes Goyo to Major-General of the army in Pangasinan. Aguinaldo then meets up with Apolinario Mabini, who left Aguinaldo's cabinet after the death of Luna, and offers him the position of Chief Justice which he reluctantly accepts.

Meanwhile, General Jose Alejandrino, Luna's former ally spared from the purge, goes to Manila and negotiates for peace with Generals Elwell Otis and Arthur MacArthur Jr., who both reject his proposal unless Aguinaldo surrenders. The war intensifies and the numerically superior Filipino forces suffer defeat after defeat in the hands of the heavily outnumbered but well-equipped Americans. Unable to organize a new offensive against the Americans, Aguinaldo and his army retreat further north with Goyo assigned to command the vanguard. During the long and exhausting march through the mountainous terrain of the Cordilleras, the army, which carries Aguinaldo's family, is constantly harassed by American troops and ongoing tensions with soldiers of Luna's old unit. As a result of the constant attacks, Aguinaldo's mother and son are both captured, putting further pressure on Goyo.

The army soon arrives at Mount Tirad where Goyo devises a delaying action to give Aguinaldo and the rest of the army enough time to escape. Together with Luna's former soldiers, including former Luna Sharpshooter Lieutenant García, fortified trenches are dug along the route of the mountain. On the following day, American troops under Major Peyton C. March quickly capture a town at the foot of the mountain. The battle begins and the Americans are initially unable to penetrate the defenses while suffering few casualties. With help from a local guide, the American troops find a secret path leading to the top of the mountain behind the trenches. Using the path, the Americans outflank the Filipinos. Having overcome his PTSD which he gained during the Battle of Kakarong de Sili in the Philippine Revolution, Goyo attempts to turn the tide of the battle but is shot dead by an American sniper. Learning of Goyo's death, the Filipino soldiers' morale breaks and they are easily overwhelmed. Joven and Garcia's son Kiko flee but Joven falls off a cliff after encountering an American soldier. In the aftermath of the battle, the Americans strip off Goyo's corpse and bury him at a crude grave in Mount Tirad. His grave is soon visited by Vicente, who survived the battle, and Felicidad, Goyo's former lover and Aguinaldo's younger sister.

Two years after the battle, Aguinaldo is captured by the Americans in Palanan, Isabela, effectively ending the war. Held as a prisoner of war in Malacañang Palace, Aguinaldo is visited by his former aide-de-camp Manuel Quezon, who has surrendered to the Americans on the orders of his commander, General Tomás Mascardo. Quezon consults Aguinaldo whether Mascardo should surrender or not which Aguinaldo replies that it is up to Mascardo himself to decide. Meanwhile, Mabini is captured by the Americans and exiled to Guam where he writes down his own narrative of the war, La Revolución Filipina ('The Philippine Revolution') which notes Aguinaldo's failure as leader of the Philippines.

In a mid-credits scene, Joven is rescued by Kiko and Eduardo Rusca, Luna's former aide. Decades later, Quezon runs for president in 1935, while an older Eduardo and Joven give a dismayed Aguinaldo a small salute.

Other members of the ensemble cast are Christopher Aronson, RK Bagatsing, Carlo Cruz, Jason Dewey, Bret Jackson, Ethan Salvador, Lorenz Martinez, Karl Medina, Stephanie Sol, and Markki Stroem.[4]

Plans for a sequel to Jerrold Tarog's Heneral Luna went underway after its critical and commercial success.[14] Tarog envisioned the sequel as being about Gregorio del Pilar, a young General who, like Heneral Luna's titular protagonist Antonio Luna, was among the Filipino historical figures during the Philippine–American War. Accordingly, Paulo Avelino, who played Del Pilar in Luna, came aboard to reprise his role.[14]

Tarog's research for Goyo involved studying biographies authored by Teodoro Kalaw as well as crossing the Tirad Pass.[1] Tarog again incorporated several prominent Filipino figures including the likes of Apolinario Mabini and Emilio Aguinaldo, aiming for a scope larger than what was present in Heneral Luna. Tarog co-wrote the film's screenplay with Rody Vera, who has said he had thoroughly studied Luna "to understand the flow of the conversations and other details unique to each character".[1]

Goyo entered pre-production in January 2017.[15] To prepare his scenes, Avelino underwent horseback riding lessons in March 2017.[1] Tarog projected a 50-day film shoot,[16] which began in May 2017.[17] The complete ensemble cast was also revealed in a photo taken during the May shoot, including the likes of Mon Confiado as Emilio Aguinaldo, Epy Quizon as Apolinario Mabini, Benjamin Alves as Manuel L. Quezon, Leo Martinez as Pedro Paterno, and Alvin Anson as José Alejandrino, reprising their roles from Heneral Luna.[8] Filming was completed on November 27, 2017, lasting 60 days.[18] The production cost for the film is said to be triple the budget of Luna.[9]

Filipino Folk Rock Band Ben&Ben was tapped to record the theme song entitled "Susi"

On February 15, 2017, a 20-minute short film entitled Angelito was exclusively released during the theatrical premiere of I'm Drunk, I Love You to serve as a prelude to Goyo and to intertwine both the sequel and Heneral Luna.[19] The film's teaser trailer was released on September 9, 2017.[20] In May 2018, it was announced that the film would be released on September 5, 2018.[21]

The film was made available on DVD on December 16, 2018.[22] It also began streaming on Netflix starting January 26, 2019.[23]

It was reported that the sequel to Goyo would be about President Manuel L. Quezon, with Benjamin Alves and TJ Trinidad set to reprise their roles as younger and older versions of Quezon respectively.[26][27] However, director Jerrold Tarog's work on the sequel was postponed after Star Cinema hired him in 2018 to direct Darna. Tarog has said he would proceed with writing the script for the Quezon film by the time filming for Darna is completed.[28]

• Sakay (1993)
• Tirad Pass: The Last Stand of Gen. Gregorio del Pilar (1996)
• José Rizal (1998)
• Amigo (2010)
• El Presidente (2012)
• Katipunan (2013)
• Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo (2014)

• Official website
• Goyo: The Boy General at IMDb
• Goyo: The Boy General at Rotten Tomatoes
• Goyo: The Boy General on Netflix