Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank) is a 2011 Filipino comedy film directed by Marlon Rivera, written by Chris Martinez, and starring JM De Guzman, Kean Cipriano, Cai Cortez and Eugene Domingo. The film follows three aspiring filmmakers who are set out to make a film for the sole purpose of receiving international recognition and awards.
Jocelyn (Cortez), Rainier (Cipriano), and Bingbong (De Guzman) are three film school graduates who are dead-set on making an Oscar-worthy film. They set out to do a quick pre-production as a courtesy call to their lead actress played by Eugene Domingo, and a thorough inspection of their film’s major location, the Payatas dumpsite. They believe they have a winning script, and the energy and drive to make their dreams come true, no matter what the cost. There, they use Eugene Domingo's acting skills to her limit, including forcing her to swim in a sewer, despite her pleas that she can do anything, except swim in a sewer.
A sequel was released in 2016, titled Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2: ForeverIsNotEnough. Khalil Ramos joins the cast, as voiceless assistant Lennon. Whereas the first film satirized the pretensions of indie cinema, the sequel pokes fun at mainstream filmmaking.
- Adam Westing: Eugene Domingo plays a character named Eugene Domingo. Domingo in real life is a celebrated veteran actress; the fictional Domingo is a talented but insufferable diva.
- Movie-Making Mess: Both films center on troubled, if not downright catastrophic filmmaking processes.
- The Primadonna: Eugene. But what does she know, she's just an actress.
- Story Within a Story: Scenes from in-progress movies (Walang Wala, The Itinerary) are interspersed throughout.
- Adam Westing: Ricci Chan appears As Himself, parodying his status as the Philippine film industry's favorite Gay Best Friend. Joel Torre plays a foul-mouthed, perennially exasperated version of himself. Agot Isidro plays an equally exasperated version of herself, though she's a lot more diplomatic than Joel.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Initially Inverted. Rainier and his wife are conventionally gorgeous human beings, and their good looks are especially impressive given that they're in a dismal state of near-divorce amid new parenthood. However, Rainier wants Eugene Domingo and Joel Torre to star in his film based on his marriage problems, representing a fictional version of the couple. Eugene Domingo and Joel Torre are decidedly much less conventionally good-looking and are visibly older than Rainier or his wife. Rainier even wants to dress Eugene up in the dowdiest clothes imaginable. Played with when Eugene demands to bring in Jericho Rosales, a strapping heartthrob, for Fanservice. Whether Rosales or Cipriano's Rainier is more attractive depends on the viewer, but Rosales is a leading man known for his Tall, Dark, and Handsome image.
- Downer Ending: Neither Rainier nor Eugene have particularly happy endings.
- Catchphrase: "But what do I know? I'm just an actress."
- Fanservice: Invoked Trope. Eugene wants to fill the movies with gratuitous fluff and sensuality, including a Shirtless Scene for Jericho Rosales.
- Irony: Eugene lampshades at one point how ironic it is that after Spanish conquistadors subjugated Filipino indios (natives), she (an indio) now has people from Spain in her hotel serving her as her paid lackeys.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Rainier and Eugene both make valid points at parts of the film, but also act like Jerkasses. Neither one is spared from a brutal Downer Ending.
- Reality Subtext: Invoked Trope. Rainier's marriage is crumbling; he writes the screenplay for The Itinerary based on it.
- True Art Is Angsty: In-Universe trope. Everybody in the main cast who isn't Eugene Domingo seems to prefer Rainier's angstier original script over Eugene's fluffy, commercially oriented vision.
- The Voiceless: Lennon, the Gen Z assistant branded as "nothing extraordinary" by Eugene.
