REEL VERSION OF REAL EVENTS.

A long line of moviegoers waited to enter the cinema where “Jacqueline Comes Home” premiered on Tuesday night in Cebu City. It’s based on the case of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong, who were abducted 21 years ago.

Thelma Chiong never thought that she would have to relive the abduction and murder of her two daughters all over again.

This was not until the Chiong matriarch saw the premier of “Jacqueline Comes Home” last Tuesday night.

The movie, directed by Isabelle Peach Caparas, was a loose retelling of the controversial Chiong sisters’ murder case that happened 21 years ago.

Just halfway into watching the movie, Chiong suddenly screamed from her seat.

Chiong told SunStar Cebu that she became emotional after seeing the scene of her daughters Marijoy and Jacqueline, played by actresses Donnalyn Bartolome and Meg Imperial, respectively, raped repeatedly by a group of men after being abducted.

Chiong admitted she had to close her eyes to avoid seeing the brutal rape scene but the screams of the actresses were too much for her to bear.

Chiong, her husband, Dionisio, and their relatives had to leave the cinema to avoid causing a scene.

As Chiong was crying and screaming outside the cinema, the film’s director, Isabelle Peach Caparas, comforted her.

Caparas, in a separate interview, said she got worried when the Chiong matriarch started to become emotional during the movie’s premier.

“I got to speak to Mrs. Chiong. I didn’t want to be harsh and tell her that it was part of the movie experience. I apologized to her for bringing her back to that sad experience,” she said.

But for Caparas, Chiong’s reaction served as a message to the viewers that her sad experience could happen to anybody.

Chiong earlier said that she and her husband decided to see the film as they wanted the public to know the real score behind the murders of her daughters.

Chiong said three of her surviving children didn’t want to accompany them as they didn’t want to relive the incident.

Other moviegoers have mixed feelings about the film.

Red Kintanar said he felt the grief that Chiong felt when she lost her daughters.

A parent himself, Kintanar said the experience of losing a child because of a crime is painful.

Llamarie Salvador, a student, said the movie made her realize that the world is scary and that people can be violent.

Salvador said she went to see the movie since the Chiong case is being discussed on social media.

Jade Plaridel, a college student, said the movie still failed to answer critical questions.

“Bisag ang movie mismo wala katubag kung unsa gyuy nahitabo ni Jacqueline. Mismo si Marijoy ug ang Ginoo ra gyuy nakahibaw kung asa siya,” he said.