MANILA, Philippines – In 2019, Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano were introduced as the lead stars of the television adaptation of the hit Wattpad novel He’s Into Her. The project launched one of the country’s most popular love teams and eventually earned the tandem its now iconic ship name: DonBelle.
Since then, the pair has headlined several films and television series that captured the sweetness of first love and the innocence of young romance. Through projects such as Love is Color Blind (2021) and An Inconvenient Love (2022), DonBelle cemented its place as one of the most influential on-screen partnerships in Philippine entertainment.
Now, as more mature artists, Pangilinan and Mariano face a new chapter in their careers — one that allows them to move beyond the identity of DonBelle. Their final film together, Tayo sa Wakas, serves as both a culmination of their journey as a love team and a testament to their artistic evolution.
Directed by acclaimed box-office filmmaker Cathy Garcia-Sampana and written by Vanessa Valdez, the film explores a more nuanced and emotionally complex portrait of love. At its core is a compelling question: What happens when the person you love becomes your competitor?
The story follows Cisco (Pangilinan) and Chesca (Mariano), a couple embarking on a promised “breakup trip” after struggling to keep their relationship afloat while pursuing careers in the same field. As professional ambitions force them into direct competition with one another, tensions begin to strain the bond they once believed was unbreakable.
Valdez, who also wrote the pair’s first series together, revealed the story had existed long before DonBelle was formed. It was simply waiting for the right actors to bring it to life.
The result was a film that not only brings the DonBelle era to a fitting close but also sets the pair up for bigger roles as they continue to build their individual identities as artists. Having grown from portraying youthful romance, they are now taking on roles that reflect the complexities of adulthood, ambition, and a deeper sense of romantic commitment.
Transition to a longer journey ahead
Mariano and Pangilinan have always been open to the possibility of growing beyond their love team and working independently, but only when the timing felt right.
“Donny and I have been vocal about how we don’t want to be just DonBelle, we also want to be Donny and Belle. So I feel like this project is the perfect project for it since it shows so much growth and maturity, and it requires so much authenticity from both of us,” Mariano said in a media con.
Pangilinan, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of finding the right material to signify both a conclusion and a new chapter in their careers.
“When we were presented with this material, we told each other that maybe this is the best time. It’s very timely and it’s also one that will showcase different sides of us,” the actor said. “It is the mixture of all our characters and more.”
As the two young actors found comfort in the film, they also found themselves deeply immersed in the story. Though Valdez didn’t originally write the film with the pair in mind, Pangilinan and Mariano eventually embedded parts of themselves into Cisco and Chesca’s long-term relationship.
For Garcia-Sampana — who has also helped shape the careers of several iconic on-screen partnerships like Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz, Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, and Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil — Pangilinan and Mariano have now matured into a love team ready for more emotionally demanding stories.
“This movie proved me right. Hinog na ang DonBelle (They’re ready) for this kind of movie. They’re beyond the pa-tweetums (acting cute). Of course, this film will still give you the kilig (thrill), the falling in love, but it also includes the pain and the mistakes,” the director pointed out during an interview with Rappler.
“They are flawed characters just like we are. But at the end of the day, what’s important is how they realize those flaws and begin to change so they become better people in the relationship and better individuals overall,” she added.
Not just a final film
Beyond the significance of Tayo sa Wakas as DonBelle’s final film together, Garcia-Sampana noted in an interview with Rappler that their primary goal was always to create characters audiences could genuinely connect with and a story people could reflect on long after leaving the cinema.
“When I sat down with them, I remember I never said I would make them great actors. I asked them to tell a good story,” the blockbuster filmmaker recalled. “We worked hard for this, for [their] characters, para maisabuhay natin ang kuwento nina Cisco at Chesca, para sa tamang kuwento na gusto nating ibahagi sa mga tao.”
(We worked hard for this, for their characters, so we can bring Cisco and Chesca’s story to life and tell it to our audience.)
For DonBelle, however, portraying Cisco and Chesca meant going beyond surface-level romance to understand the emotional weight, fears, and motivations that shaped their relationship. In doing so, they also hope audiences will reflect on their own experiences with love, heartbreak, healing, and growth.
Cisco is an ambitious dreamer whose desire to succeed leads him down a misguided path that costs him something he deeply values. Yet despite his mistakes, the character’s journey is ultimately rooted in redemption and the possibility of making amends.
“It’s not black and white. We all have flawed characteristics, what they call ‘red flags,’” Donny said of his character. “But you have to understand where each character is coming from and what their background is.”
“Maybe being together for so long changes you as an individual, as a couple, and as people who go through life together while still trying to figure out whether you are truly meant to go through it together, or if you first need to find yourselves in the process,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chesca is portrayed as someone optimistic, selfless, and deeply devoted to the people she loves — so much so that she eventually reaches a point where she begins losing herself in the process.
Reflecting on the emotional challenge of portraying the character, Mariano shared, “Yung character ko rito, paloob yung sakit niya, hindi siya palabas (My character’s pain goes inwards instead of outwards). So how am I able to keep it all in but still make people feel the pain?”
“The story required so much vulnerability and maturity to be able to tackle this movie and role. You can learn from Cisco and Chesca. You can learn from their love, and it can either break you or heal you,” she said.
Ultimately, for the director, these emotional contradictions and perspectives are exactly what make the film meaningful. More than simply serving as DonBelle’s farewell project, Tayo sa Wakas is intended to tell the story of two flawed people navigating the painful but necessary process of growth and change.
“Simply put, it is a journey of two people who loved, got hurt, and eventually found themselves and found love again,” Garcia-Sampana said. “Just like how I envision all of my films, I want people to come out of the cinema wanting to love and appreciate life again. No matter how it started, no matter how ugly the journey was, at the end of the day, we always choose love.”
More than a farewell film, Tayo sa Wakas is a reflection on modern-day love and the painful journey that comes with growing together and apart. Through Cisco and Chesca’s “breakup trip,” the film reminds audiences that even after heartbreak and mistakes, redemption is still possible when people choose to learn, heal, and move forward. – Rappler.com
‘Tayo sa Wakas’ is now showing in 200 cinemas nationwide.