A dark comedy-thriller film inspired by a true story on travails of online dating that went viral on Twitter opens the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2023 on 4 August, 7 p.m., at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Quark Henares, Marupok AF (Where Is The Lie) follows hopeless romantic Janzen Torres who finds another chance at love when she matches with the handsome and seemingly perfect Theo Balmaceda on a dating app. Unfortunately, on the day of their meet-up, Theo ghosts her, leading Janzen into an intricate web of deceit, lies and catfishing by sociopathic mastermind Beanie Landridos.

The 89-minute film stars EJ Jallorina, Royce Cabrera and Maris Racal. Henares is a multi-awarded filmmaker known for having written and directed feature films such as My Candidate, Rakenrol and Keka. He is also a musician, fictionist, journalist, actor, DJ, host, professor and entrepreneur. He is currently Head of Originals, Philippines, for Amazon Studios.

This year, Cinemalaya will run from 4-13 August at the PICC, Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez (CCP Black Box Theater) and selected Ayala Malls Cinemas.