"Badong (FPJ) has been raising up his only child, Joey, ever since his wife died at an early age. Consequently, Joey grows up like her father, a boyish person who acts like a man. Together with Lola Benedicta (Anita Linda), Badong and Joey had been living happily, with the former protecting his child while the latter is helping his father with his auto repair shop. One day, Badong's childhood friend, Beth (Aileen Damiles), visits their location and they became close. However, Joey feels that Beth is trying to replace her late mother and that Beth is destroying her relationship with her father.
There was once a middle-class family called the Bartolomes. The family members are Amanda Bartolome (Vilma Santos), Julián Bartlome Sr. (Christopher de Leon), and their sons Julian "Jules" Bartolome Jr. (Piolo Pascual), Isagani "Gani" Bartolome (Carlos Agassi), Emmanuel "Em" Bartolome (Marvin Agustin), Jason Bartolome (Danilo Barrios) and Benjamin "Bingo" Bartolome (John Wayne Sace). The story tells us about their life during the martial law in the Philippines during the 1970s.
Variety describes the film thus: "Lav Diaz’s Evolution of a Filipino Family patiently and methodically observes the collapse and hopeful revival of a poor farming clan, meant to symbolize a nation’s history spanning 1971 to 1987."
The story revolves around Selya (Rosanna Roces), a schoolteacher. She wants more commitment from Bobby (Gardo Versoza), with whom she has a sexual relationship, but Bobby refuses to give her what she wants and he leaves her. Selya runs away and ends up in a little town where she meets Piling (Eva Darren), who is also a schoolteacher, and Dave (Ricky Davao), a closeted gay man. The townspeople are homophobic, and she begins to hear vicious criticisms and unbridled gossip as she embarks on a relationship with Dave. Selya realizes that things won't end well as Dave does not want a sexual relationship with her, and she walks out on Dave even as he proposes to her. Selya goes back to Bobby, only to regret her decision when he gets her pregnant and still doesn't change. Selya then decides to return to Dave and raise her child with him. Eventually, she becomes happy with her decision to live in a civil union with Dave, though their relationship remains platonic, and Selya realizes her worth as a woman. In the end, as Bobby tries to take her and their child away from Dave, Selya confronts her own irony, daringly exhibiting her strength of character as she conquers her physical desires and chooses the more emotionally rewarding bond.
The de la Cruzes and the Santos are two lower-middle-class families who live in Pampanga. Cora de la Cruz is a nurse who dreams of living in the United States. Her papers are ready and she organises employment at an American hospital. She hopes to get a green card allowing her to stay, achieve immigrant status and then bring her family to America for a better life. Cora's mother and younger brother encourage her but her father, Ingkong, disagrees. He believes that moving to America is a betrayal of their country, typical of an old colonial mentality.
Rock Polotan (Concepcion) and Tracy Fuentebella (Dos Santos) are teenage sweethearts and both nursing students in a university in Manila are in love and full of dreams. A youthful indiscretion leads them to early parenthood, a situation they face squarely, and quite maturely, by planning to get married. They shortly realize, however, that the problem behind their wedding plans has less to do with themselves than with their own parents.
Ruben (Wowie De Guzman) and Cecile (Judy Ann Santos) are childhood friends. One day, Ruben's cousin Jason (Rico Yan), returns from the United States. He meets Cecile, and despite their different backgrounds, the two fall in love. Only then does Ruben realize that he too is in love with Cecile. However, Jason has a secret that may destroy his relationship with Cecile and Ruben.
Separated by both physical and emotional distance, siblings Danny (Johnny Delgado), Art (Edu Manzano) and Grace (Dina Bonnevie) settle a land dispute whilst their mother Dolores "Loleng" Rosales (Gloria Romero) succumbs to debilitating disease. Old resentments begin to surface and spill over to the next generation as they cope with Loleng's sickness and the tract of land left to them by their deceased father.
Being the loving older sister, Barbara (Lorna Tolentino) has always been overly indulgent of her little sister Ruth's every whim. Years later, Barbara meets and instantly falls in love with Nick (Tonton Gutierrez), who is mutually smitten with her. But the spoiled Ruth (Dawn Zulueta) confesses to her older sister that she too is in love with Nick and threatens to kill herself if he does not marry her. So with a heavy heart, Barbara once again passively accommodates Ruth's demands and convinces Nick to court her younger sister instead. In a twisted act of devotion, Nick reluctantly agrees to marry Ruth, to prove his love for Barbara. After the wedding, Barbara then decides to start a new life abroad, to give Nick a chance to truly fall in love with Ruth and for Barbara to get over her feelings for him.
A love story between two students who first met at the University of Santo Tomas: Popoy (John Lloyd Cruz) was majoring in Engineering while Basha (Bea Alonzo) was a freshman in Architecture. They were inseparable and did everything together — eating, studying and attending parties. Both their families loved them, they shared mutual friends and eventually ended up working for the same firm. Every single component of their lives revolved around each other. So, naturally, everyone assumed that they would inevitably get married someday, with Architect Basha designing and planning their dream house while Engineer Popoy building it. Everything could not be more perfect.