MANILA, Philippines?It?s bold, unorthodox and original.

?Biyaheng Lupa (Soliloquy),? the independent directorial debut of award-winning screenwriter Armando ?Bing? Lao is a movie that exists only in the mind. That is, the stories of its characters unfold only in thought?where musings of passengers in a bus traveling from Manila to Bicol provide the primary storytelling device.

It?s an effort that won the Grand Jury Award at the recent Cinemanila Film Festival.

But can a unique concept from a respected writer and early buzz from the art-film crowd fuel this movie?s commercial run?

Featuring a diverse cast that includes Jaclyn Jose, Alan Paule, Angel Aquino, Eugene Domingo and Julio Diaz, ?Biyaheng Lupa? seems bent on accomplishing the arduous task of patching together a cornucopia of stories from numerous characters.

Each time the bus doors close, all ambient sounds give way to the passengers? chorus of thoughts: recollections, imaginings, dreams, fervent wishes, and, in what turns out to be the movie?s unexpected highlight, a song?sung in mental unison.

The film has a wealth of stories loosely based on those of real people, and tackle issues both social and personal in nature.

There?s the single mom torn between a new job abroad and having to leave her young son in the province; the deaf, rich kid in search of his biological mother?s grave; the middle-aged wife on her way to meet her young lover; and the TV game show contestant having second thoughts about her marriage.

Pretty candid

There?s also the gossip-monger looking for true love and the conductor who flirts with her; the down-on-his-luck, get-rich-quick guy who realizes he may have been the victim of a pyramiding scheme; plus other colorful characters.

As thoughts tend to be unedited, Lao is pretty candid in presenting the passengers? individual stories?which are funny, irreverent, moving, but always honest.

The film succeeds in engaging viewers despite little visual action, minimal dialogue, and limited interaction between characters. Most of the time it feels like one is really there, sitting beside bus passengers, privy to their life stories, and empathizing with them.

But with such a motley group of ?silent? characters shifting about in their seats, it becomes evident early on that tying everything together could be a challenge.

For this, Lao has an exit plan. Passengers come and go at different stops. But increasingly, the ?goings? feel abrupt. You feel bitin seeing only snippets of the characters? lives, even if their conflicts are eventually resolved.

But it?s the final solution that may prove to be the biggest roadblock for this otherwise interesting journey. The end, which is somewhat anticlimactic, is all too abrupt. It?s as if the bus driver decided to take a shortcut which turned out to be the wrong route.

The audience will certainly ask: ?What happened ... what was that all about??

At the media screening, Lao was on hand to answer such queries.

But for the next batch of moviegoers who will be watching without a guide, it might be a disorienting ride.

?Biyaheng Lupa? opens in cinemas Dec. 2.