EXCLUSIVE: Regal Entertainment producer Keith Monteverde is teaming with Singapore’s Mocha Chai Laboratories on coming-of-age drama One For The Road, directed by award-winning Filipino filmmaker Kip Oebanda (Bar Boys, Bar Boys: After School).
The cast is headed by Elijah Canlas, Gian Bernardino, Emilio Daez and JM Ibarra playing four high school best friends who begin to grow apart as they enter adulthood. They are joined by Nour Hooshmand, Sofia Trazona and Mika Reins, among other cast.
The project has been selected for the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP)’s International Co-Production Fund (ICOF), which supports international co-productions involving Filipino producers and filmmakers. The film is set to shoot entirely in the Philippines with a predominantly Filipino cast and crew.
Mocha Chai Laboratories will lead sound design for One For The Road. The company’s recent Singapore-Thailand co-production, Decalcomania, was nominated for Best Sound Design at the 2026 ContentAsia Awards.
Written by Kip Oebanda and Victor Villanueva (Patay na si Hesus), One For The Road follows four high school best friends entering their mid 20s who are finding that careers, relationships and the pressures of adulthood are pulling them in different directions.
When tragedy brings them back together, they embark on a road trip that tests their friendship and forces them to confront the grief they have long avoided. The film blends road-trip comedy with coming-of-age drama.
Mocha Chai Laboratories co-founder Michelle Chang said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with Regal Entertainment, a company I’ve long wanted to partner with because of its extraordinary legacy in Philippine cinema. One For The Road is a universally resonant film and what better way to start this journey than bring together Regal’s deep connection with Filipino audiences and MCL’s experience in international co-production and post-production.”
For Monteverde and Oebanda, the material has a personal connection: “I am too familiar with what it feels like to be young, trying to ‘grow up,’ while the world around you keeps narrowing your options and closing doors,” Monteverde said. “One For The Road puts a spotlight on struggles that many young Filipino men carry quietly today.”
Oebanda added: “There seems to be a pervasive sense of loneliness and isolation in modern cities and in capitalist societies, and it is by design. This feeling of burnout and isolation is rarely addressed in our films. In the Philippines, men in particular are taught to suck it up and be strong or to not cry when they are emotional.
“I want to make a film that will reach the masses with the message that we need to support and check on each other and normalize talking about grief and our mental health struggles. We can make a hilarious, fun movie without skirting away or downplaying the issue at hand. After all, many people mask their grief through humor and adventures.”
One For The Road is currently in principal photography in the Philippines and is slated for release in the second quarter of 2027.
