Romantic digital series explores mental health
Actors Jane Oineza and Zaijian Jaranilla take on mental health issues like grief and healing in the coming-of-age romantic drama “Si Sol at si Luna,” reminding audiences that moving on sometimes takes more than time—it takes a life-changing plot twist.
Director Dolly Dulu, who also penned the script, said the series aims to help viewers realize that while we often get consumed by our own little worlds, there’s still something waiting for us outside those boundaries.
“Sometimes, it takes a stranger to shake you out of it and say, ‘There is still hope,’” she explained. “These two complete strangers cross paths to teach each other valuable life lessons.”
In the movie, Sol (Jaranilla) is a film student working on his thesis whose life changes when he meets the heartbroken Luna (Oineza). As their paths converge, they must navigate the complexities of attraction, love, and loss that are only amplified by their age gap.
“The story starts with Luna grieving the loss of her fiancé, played by Mon Picson. Sol sees her ride the bus, crying. For Luna, her life revolved around her fiancé, her Earth. With him gone, she feels lost. Coincidentally, when Sol sees her, he feels empathy. It also happens that he is making a documentary about love,” Dulu told Lifestyle.
“Sol’s idea of love is still so perfect, so ideal,” the director added. “Luna will be his first heartbreak. Audiences will see him go through that pain and, eventually, healing.”
Based on experience
At a recent media gathering organized by series producer Puregold, we asked Dulu if any personal experience inspired the story. Her answer was a candid “yes.”
“I wrote the script in 2017, at a time when I was trying to process something personal—how a 30-year-old me fell for someone much younger, someone who was only 18,” she shared.
“As a writer, I draw from personal experiences. Art reflects life,” she said. “There’s a big difference in those 12 years. I was past the stage of believing in grand, romantic ideals. When you’re younger, you think relationships are just kilig and perfection, shaped by the movies we grew up watching. But as you get older, gain experience, and go through heartbreaks, those notions shift. You get a little jaded.”
Through the story of “Si Sol at si Luna,” Dulu found herself revisiting a time when she was still hopeful about love. That optimism—and the tension between idealism and reality—became the heart of the story she wrote in 2017.
“Now that it’s 2025, and the project has become a digital series, it’s fascinating to see how many still relate to it,” she said.
Jaranilla said he immediately accepted the project because the material intrigued him. “I felt that the project was worth doing. I’m just nervous because I’m not sure how the audience will react when they watch it. I just want to point out that I gave it my best. I’m proud to have been part of a really good series,” he said.
“This is one of the projects I manifested. I feel like the universe aligned the sun and the moon for this to happen. I’m happy to be part of it,” Oineza added. “I was actually surprised at how good an actor Zaijian is.”
Jaranilla, who rose to fame as the orphaned boy Santino in the 2009 ABS-CBN drama “May Bukas Pa,” acknowledged the comments about him looking too young for the role.
“My response is, I’m 23 now—and this is a coming-of-age story. It shows the complexities of how an 18-year-old falls in love compared to a 30-year-old,” he explained.
Communication
Playing Sol also meant filming an “intimate” scene with Oineza—something Jaranilla experienced for the first time in this series. “I just want to commend Ate Jane for the kind of support she gave me during that scene. She knew it wasn’t an easy thing for me. We really sat down to talk about our limitations. Communication became a key part of the process because the scene was quite sensitive.”
For Oineza, it was all about teamwork. “Even though I’ve done kissing scenes with other coactors before, this was my first time doing it with Zaijian. That’s why I took the time to really get to know him as a coactor and understand what would make him feel comfortable around me,” she said.
When asked how she related to her character, Oineza admitted she hasn’t experienced grief and loss the way Luna does. “I haven’t gone through something as difficult as losing the love of my life. But pain and heartbreak, I’ve had my share.”
Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival director Chris Cahilig revealed that “Si Sol at si Luna” was originally submitted as a film entry for last year’s edition. “It was one of the strongest scripts, but as we were reading it, we realized it would be perfect as a digital series,” he shared. “For Puregold, it’s all about finding the right material for the right platform. We aim to provide an avenue for creativity and entertainment online. We also want to level up the quality of content we see there—we want it to be cinematic.”
The series, with episodes dropping every Saturday at 7 p.m. on the Puregold YouTube Channel, also features Karina Bautista, Joao Constancia, Vaughn Picson, and Cheena Crab.
