# Saving Grace (Philippine TV series)

Saving Grace is a Philippine drama television series produced by Dreamscape Entertainment. It is an adaptation of the Japanese drama series Mother by Yuji Sakamoto. Directed by FM Reyes and Dolly Dulu, it stars Julia Montes, Zia Grace and Sharon Cuneta. The story explores a mother's unconditional love while sharing the light of child abuse and domestic violence.
The series streamed on Amazon Prime Video from November 28, 2024 to January 9, 2025, consisting of 14 episodes. The extended version of the series, titled Saving Grace: The Untold Story, premiered on March 3, 2025 on Kapamilya Channel's Primetime Bida line up.

## Premise

Anna Sarmiento (Julia Montes) is an elementary school teacher who experienced struggles in life until she meets Grace (Zia Grace), a mindful student abused by her mother Sara (Jennica Garcia) and stepfather, Chito (Christian Bables). The young girl calls for help, and in an attempt to protect Grace, Anna kidnaps her, which leads to a nationwide manhunt.

## Cast and characters
### Main cast

* Julia Montes as Anna Sarmiento: A substitute elementary school teacher who discovered the suffering of her student Grace. Anna decides to "kidnap" Grace in order to save her. Meanwhile, she is low-contact with her family due to guilt after the loss of her father, but regulates the finances for her family's resort inn.
** Hannah Vito as young Anna
* Zia Grace as Mary Grace Banaag: An elementary school student who is abused by her mother and her mother's live-in partner. Grace has a positive attitude and tries to be a better person. She disguises herself as Anna's son named Bright, named after the brand of her favorite red hot dogs.
* Sharon Cuneta as Miranda Valdez: A former NTV reporter serving as the host of TV show Karamay, and Jessica's mother. She takes an interest in covering Grace and Sarah's story for her program.
** Michelle Vito as young Miranda
* Janice de Belen as Helena Sarmiento: Anna, Princess, and Erin's mother. After Antonio revealed to Helena that Anna is his daughter from an affair, Helena briefly pushed Anna away following the death of Antonio. In order to save their family's home, Anna proposed the idea to turn their residence into a resort inn, named Helena's Paradise.
** Inah Estrada as young Helena
* Sam Milby as Julius Hernandez: A TV producer of Karamay, and Jessica's boyfriend. He pushed for Grace and Sarah's story to be featured on Miranda's program.
* Jennica Garcia as Sarah Banaag: Grace's selfish mother and Chito's romantic partner. Sarah's love for Chito soon takes precedence over her role as Grace's mother, ultimately driving her daughter away following her share of abuse towards the child.
* Christian Bables as Chito Sumulong: Grace's abusive father-figure and Sarah's romantic partner. He is abusive towards Grace despite Sarah's efforts to appease him.
* Eric Fructuoso as Oscar Jimenez: A police officer who investigates Grace's disappearance, determined to find evidence of the child having been abused at home.
* Elisse Joson as Atty. Jessica Valdez: A lawyer and Miranda's daughter. While Jessica witnesses the clashes between Miranda and Julius, she is often sympathetic towards her mother due to her hardships as a single mom.

### Supporting cast

* Sophia Reola as Erin Sarmiento: Anna and Princess' younger sister.
** Misha Kobayashi as young Erin
* Adrian Lindayag as Charlie Molina: Anna, Princess, and Erin's cousin.
* Alma Concepcion as Monika Hernandez: Edgardo's wife and Wilson's mother.
* Ramon Christopher as Gov. Edgardo Hernandez: Julius and Wilson's father.
* Mary Joy Apostol as Princess Sarmiento: Anna's younger sister and Erin's older sister.
** Myel de Leon as young Princess
* Aya Fernandez as Ashley Santillan: An employee at NTV who seeks to ruin Miranda's reputation.
* Karl Gabriel as Matty Cabreras: An employee at Helena's Paradise.
* Andrez del Rosario as Vincent Jimenez: Oscar's son.
* Emilio Daez as Wilson Hernandez: Julius' brother.
* PJ Endrinal as Tommy Vasquez: An assistant producer of NTV and Jessica's friend.
* Fe de los Reyes as Carmen Flores: Miranda's manager & best friend.
** Gail Banawis as young Carmen
* Jong Cuenco as Ramon Damiles: A high-ranking police officer and Chito's family friend, frequently keeping the latter out of prison.
* Daisy Cariño as Mely Bugayong: Grace and Sarah's neighbor.
* Lotlot Bustamante as Patty Capili: An elementary school teacher.

### Guest cast

* Gardo Versoza as Antonio Sarmiento: Helena's late husband, and Anna, Princess, & Erin's father.
** Jeremiah Lisbo as young Antonio
* Joel Saracho as a fisherman
* Sherry Lara as Lucia
* Junjun Quintana as Bobby
* Franco Laurel
* Nor Domingo as Mr. Valdez
* Kai Montinola as teen Grace
* Malou Crisologo as Sally

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Original air date |
| 1 | "Episode 1" | November 28, 2024 (2024-11-28) |
| Two weeks before Grace “disappeared”, during the Bagong Buhay Elementary School's Teacher’s Day event, Grace came in late without her costume and performing with her group, then suddenly, Grace’s teacher, Thelma, was taken to the hospital. After the school session ended, Anna was planning to move to Hong Kong instead of reuniting with her family as she had a difficult life since her father died. Anna became a substitute teacher for Thelma, but Grace was being bullied when she arrived. After school, Grace came back home cleaning while experiencing life-struggles with her mother, Sarah, and her stepfather, Chito. Later that night, Grace met Anna for a conversation. The other morning, Anna discovered abuse marks on Grace’s back leading to a report to her parents, but Sarah denied it. One day, Grace was looking for her pet, but Chito killed it, angering her. However, a drunk Sarah abused her. The next day, Chito hid her some place to avoid suspicions, but Anna discovered it and took Grace to her house without notice. Grace was in emotional pain from the abuse and told Anna what had happened. However, they waved an emotional goodbye as she was supposed to head to the airport. |||
| 2 | "Episode 2" | November 28, 2024 (2024-11-28) |
| Anna quietly took Grace to safety avoiding suspicions, and some fishermen and the police discovered Grace’s stuff, leading to an investigation. The next day, after Miranda did another episode for her talk show for NTV, her manager informed her that the show’s ratings had gone down and advised her to find a solution. While Grace’s abusive parents were still looking for her, they got into a fight over what they’d done. Julius, an NTV producer, was looking for the story about the “disappearance” of Grace. Chito got into a fight with him and was charged by the police. Later, Miranda arrived at Grace’s home and interviewed Sarah, who denied the abuse to her daughter and talked about her relationship. Meanwhile, Anna seeks a place to stay while disguising Grace as a boy named Bright. Grace was supposed to meet her aunt, who was a relative of her father, at her house in Quezon, but she passed away years ago. At Grace's house during nighttime, Chito convinces Sarah to avoid actual publicity after she bails him out of jail. When Sarah's interview aired on TV the next morning, Anna and Grace decided in an emotional agreement that she would kidnap her. |||
| 3 | "Episode 3" | December 5, 2024 (2024-12-5) |
| While Julius searches for clues about Anna and Grace's whereabouts, Anna and Grace visit the old orphanage in Batangas, where Anna used to live after being abandoned by her mother. Chito recognizes Grace from a bus yesterday, and Sarah starts to believe him as they search for clues. Helena visits Anna's apartment in Manila to gather information and unexpectedly meets Julius. Later, Lucia at the old orphanage allows Anna and Bright (Grace's disguise) to stay until Anna finds a police report and decides to create a false alibi after she arrives at the police station, accusing Chito and Sarah of abuse. Julius confronts Anna about her lies. Meanwhile, Bright attempts to steal a car key from his mother, Bobby, who is trying to sell the old orphanage and move her to a nursing home. Bobby and Lucia have an emotional talk the next day, and decided to stay together at his house. Later at night, Lucia told Anna she found out about true identity of Bright and gave her the old bracelet. The next day, Anna plans to take Grace to some place else after she supposed to leave her at the other orphanage, accidentally calls her mother, Sarah. |||
| 4 | "Episode 4" | December 5, 2024 (2024-12-5) |
| The unexpected call received by Sarah leads the police to find Lucia's orphanage in Batangas. Meanwhile, Miranda's visit to the orphanage reminds of her hidden past. While searching, Sarah catches a glimpse of Grace, whom chooses to run away from her. Sarah is bewildered of her daughter's action, rationalizing that she must be running away from the kidnappers, while Chito reminds her that she might have chose to become a runaway due to her maltreatment. With no other option, Anna along with Grace run away to Palawan, her hometown. Despite Anna's efforts to keep Grace a secret from her family, her sister Princess catches Anna with a child. |||
| 5 | "Episode 5" | December 12, 2024 (2024-12-12) |
| 6 | "Episode 6" | December 12, 2024 (2024-12-12) |
| 7 | "Episode 7" | December 19, 2024 (2024-12-19) |
| 8 | "Episode 8" | December 19, 2024 (2024-12-19) |
| 9 | "Episode 9" | December 26, 2024 (2024-12-26) |
| 10 | "Episode 10" | December 26, 2024 (2024-12-26) |
| 11 | "Episode 11" | January 2, 2025 (2025-1-2) |
| 12 | "Episode 12" | January 2, 2025 (2025-1-2) |
| 13 | "Episode 13" | January 9, 2025 (2025-1-9) |
| 14 | "Episode 14" | January 9, 2025 (2025-1-9) |

## Production
### Development

The project was first revealed on July 15, 2024, after ABS-CBN Studios inked a deal with Nippon TV to do a Philippine adaptation of a Japanese drama. Chief operating officer of ABS-CBN Corporation, Cory Vidanes stated:
   "This is the [Filipino] adaptation of Mother that is created and produced by Nippon TV. This is our very first adaptation of a Nippon TV series, and we are very grateful to Nippon TV for entrusting us with the rights for the Filipino version. It's a beautiful story that really centers around the importance of family and motherhood and promises to be a very emotionally engaging and heartwarming series that will deeply resonate with the Filipino audience and the non-Filipino audiences worldwide."
Content business representatives of Nippon TV, Sally Yamamoto and Yuki Akehi, expressed satisfaction with the partnership with ABS-CBN stating:
   "As we celebrate our landmark tenth international deal for Mother, we are delighted to be announcing this adaptation with ABS-CBN. We truly believe in ABS-CBN’s production capabilities and that the Filipino audience will love this show. Mother is truly a beautiful story, and we are confident that the Filipino audience are going to love it. Best wishes to the cast and crew."
The tenth adaptation of Mother, the series is one of the final projects that the then-head of Dreamscape Entertainment, Roldeo Endrinal, was involved in before his death on February 3, 2024. FM Reyes and Dolly Dulu served as directors.

### Casting

On July 15, 2024, Julia Montes was announced for the lead role. During the same week, Janice de Belen, Sam Milby, Jennica Garcia, Christian Bables, and Sharon Cuneta were cast in main roles. Zia Grace was announced in the title role, marking her debut as a child actress. Elisse Joson, Aya Fernandez, Adrian Lindayag, Mary Joy Apostol, Sophia Reola, Eric Fructuoso, Andrez del Rosario, and Fe de los Reyes were also announced as part of the cast.

### Filming

Principal photography commenced in July 2024. Filming took place in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. It was concluded in October 2024.

## Release
### Streaming

The series premiered on November 28, 2024 with two episodes releasing per week on Amazon Prime Video. The series consists of 14 episodes. The teleserye version is currently streaming on Kapamilya Online Live and iWantTFC on March 3, 2025.

### Television broadcast

Saving Grace made its television debut (subtitled as "The Untold Story"), which is the uncut and extended version of the series, on March 3, 2025 on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, TV5, and worldwide via The Filipino Channel.

## Marketing

Advanced screening for the series was held on November 22, 2024, at Gateway Mall 2 in Quezon City.

## Reception

Upon release, Saving Grace debuted at number-one on Amazon Prime Video in the Philippines. The series ranked third on Trendrod's list of the top 40 best Philippine shows of 2024.