Netflix is preparing to unleash a uniquely Filipino dramedy with Kontrabida Academy, a film that blends comedy, fantasy, and a playful take on the nation’s beloved soap opera tropes. Starring Barbie Forteza and Eugene Domingo, it transforms the idea of villainy into a journey of empowerment, parody, and self-discovery.

In Filipino pop culture, the kontrabida is the villain, the antagonist whose role is to torment the bida, the hero. They’re the schemers and the scene-stealers, the slap-givers and the insult-throwers who make melodrama irresistible. Without the kontrabida, there’s no story, and without their chaos, the bida has no triumph.

With its official release set for September 11, 2025, here’s everything you need to know about Kontrabida Academy, the project’s debut, its cast of colorful characters, the story it tells, and how to watch it.

A premiere wrapped in claws and sequins

The academy throws open its gates on September 11, 2025, when the film drops on Netflix worldwide. With a runtime of about 107–108 minutes and a TV-14 rating in the US (U/A 13+ in India), it’s designed like a firework show, bold and quick to dazzle.

Netflix teased the project in January with posters daring the audience to pick a side, hero or villain. By August, the trailer swept in with the full promise of chaos, showing classrooms where kontrabidas rehearse hair-pulling, sharpen their slaps, and polish the laugh that can stop a bida cold.

A cast of schemers, slappers, and scene-stealers

At the center is Barbie Forteza as Gigi, a woman ground down by her collapsing life. Fate throws her into Kontrabida Academy, where she’s told to drop her meekness and embrace her claws. Watching her trade pity for venom is part of the show.

Guiding her is Eugene Domingo as Mauricia, the headmistress of mischief, whose every line is a performance, and every gesture is sharpened into theater. When she faces Forteza, their scenes feel like sparring matches wrapped in sequins.

The halls are filled with players ready to steal a scene. Michael De Mesa radiates gravitas, Carmina Villarroel adds polish, and younger sparks like Jameson Blake, Ysabel Ortega, and Xyriel Manabat stir rivalries. Reports also mention Susan Africa in the cast, though her role hasn’t been officially confirmed by Netflix.

A plot stitched with slaps and redemption

Kontrabida Academy begins in misery. Gigi suffers under the weight of work, family demands, and failed love. Then a mysterious television pulls her into the world of Kontrabida Academy.

Inside, villainy is taught as a craft. Students practice monologues like sacred texts, perfect entrances like ritual, and wield fashion as armor. Under Mauricia’s flamboyant tutelage, Gigi learns to shed her victimhood and wield the kontrabida persona as power.

Kontrabida Academy plays as parody, yet at its heart sits an odd empowerment. The makeover isn’t just lipstick and cackles but a reclamation of space, the audacity to stop apologizing and take up the spotlight.

The making of a villain’s playground

Chris Martinez directs and writes, bringing his satirical taste from works like Kimmy Dora. He builds the academy like a dreamscape of teleserye sets, draped in leopard prints and shoulder pads, every corner exaggerated into theater.

The energy between Domingo and Forteza gives the film its pulse. Their chemistry carries the sense of actors delighting in their own duel.

A campaign of laughs, glares, and glitter

The August trailer of Kontrabida Academy teased synchronized villain laughs, slapping drills, and the moment Gigi steps out in full kontrabida glory. It lit up social media, with clips from NetflixPH circulating on TikTok and Facebook and drawing playful responses from fans eager to try their own villain laughs.

Promotion leaned into parody, and interviews turned playful, with Forteza describing the role as liberating and Domingo hinting that a touch of badness might be the key to courage.

Enrolling in chaos: Join the Kontrabida Academy

Kontrabida Academy embraces melodrama with affection, turning every cliché into glitter. When it lands on Netflix on September 11, audiences will be invited to laugh at its excess, revel in its villainy, and perhaps leave with a kontrabida glare sharpened for everyday use.