Anne Curtis continues her evolution from box office queen to serious actress, partnering with acclaimed genre filmmaker Mikhail Red for a psychologically complex role that showcases her range beyond mainstream hits.
This marks Curtis's first collaboration with Red—and sources say she's hungry for material that challenges her. After crossing PHP300 million ($5M) with 'The Loved One' earlier this year, she's clearly seeking something darker and more demanding than safe crowd-pleasers.
Production begins later in 2026 under Evolve Studios and Viva Films. Curtis plays journalist Violet Olvido investigating killings tied to a shadowy outsourcing company recruiting remote workers across the Philippines. 'Deleter' (2022), co-produced by Viva Films, remains the highest-grossing Filipino horror film ever.
Curtis taking on Red's paranoid vision is a calculated risk that could redefine her career—or become a cult classic about the horrors of the gig economy. Either way, Manila cinema just got interesting again.
Anne Curtis has spent decades as the undisputed queen of Philippine box office draws, but she's about to test whether her star power translates into something far darker and more unsettling. The actress is attached to lead Mikhail Red's upcoming paranoia thriller "Remote," a psychological horror film set in contemporary Manila that explores the terrifying underbelly of the remote work economy—and sources say this isn't your typical celebrity vanity project.
Curtis will portray Violet Olvido, a journalist who begins investigating a string of killings linked to an international outsourcing company recruiting remote workers across the Philippines. As she goes deeper undercover within the organization, her grip on reality begins to erode—because apparently even investigative journalism has its limits when confronting shadowy corporations with global reach. The film is produced by Evolve Studios and Viva Films, with production scheduled to begin later this year.
Red, who serves as chief creative officer at genre-focused Evolve Studios, describes "Remote" as an exploration of what he calls "the colonization of consciousness itself and the weaponization of fear." In a statement, Red explained that the film draws on his personal proximity to the remote-work world that emerged in the pandemic's wake. "There's been a rise of online digital nomads post-pandemic, displaced in their own timezones working graveyard shifts," he said.
"Most are VAs or virtual assistants for western companies who do odd tasks for high pay due to the exchange rate but at the same time may be vulnerable to exploitation because of legal grey zones." The collaboration marks a significant departure for Curtis, whose recent hit "The Loved One" crossed PHP300 million ($5 million) at the Philippine box office earlier this year. That film was safe territory—a crowd-pleaser that confirmed her commercial dominance but offered little artistic challenge.
Sources close to the production suggest Curtis has been actively seeking darker material, and Red's vision clearly caught her attention. "Remote" will mark their first collaboration together. For Red, the project represents a return to genre filmmaking roots after his most recent feature "Lilim" premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this year.
"My earliest films explored crime, violence, and investigation through thrillers and police procedurals," he noted. "'Remote' revisits that territory, but this time through the lens of psychological horror and paranoia. It is also perhaps the closest I have come to making a serial killer film—a genre I have always wanted to explore." The filmmaker previously worked with Viva Films on "Deleter" (2022), which remains the highest-grossing Filipino horror film of all time, setting a high bar that "Remote" will inevitably be measured against.
