Bitter Melon, is an independent 2018 American dark comedy film written and directed by H.P. Mendoza. It debuted at the 2018 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival and was released theatrically by ABS-CBN on December 7, 2018 and on home video by Gravitas Ventures on October 1, 2019. The film's title refers to the tropical vegetable with a bitter flavor known in the Philippines as ampalaya.

Plot

The film follows Declan as he returns to his hometown of San Francisco for Christmas only to realize that his second oldest brother, Troy, has been ruling the house with fear, physically abusing his wife, Shelly, and emotionally abusing his mother Prisa and daughter Mina. When eldest brother Moe arrives to complete the Christmas reunion, the festivities begin as the extended family shows up and the big Filipino Christmas can begin. But when cousin Tiva offers domestic violence support to the withdrawn Shelly, abusive Troy finds out and assaults Shelly for Declan and Moe to find when they get home. The next day, Declan and Moe are disturbed to discover that everyone in the house (Prisa, Shelly, Mina and Troy) all act as if nothing happened, even as Shelly nurses a bruised face. This leads Declan to propose a radical idea to the family: to kill Troy.