Cinema One Originals 2017 (World Cinema) Movie Review: Luca Guadagnino's "Call Me By Your Name"

Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer in "Call Me By Your Name" (2017)

One of the most highly anticipated films of the year and has received unanimous acclaim from international critics, "Call Me By Your Name" (2017) Luca Guadagnino's adaptation of the 2007 novel of the same name by André Aciman, had it's Philippine premiere last November 18, 2017 in Trinoma as part of the World Cinema section of this year's Cinema One Originals. The romantic coming-of-age drama film will be screened in four select cinemas in Metro Manila, and most of these screenings are sold-out already.

Everyone, including me, has been looking forward to seeing this film since it was announced to be part of the 2017 Cinema One Originals. Therefore, this will be a special review since this is the first foreign film I will be writing about here in my blog. Yes, this film is that special. Set in Italy in 1983, Call Me by Your Name chronicles the romantic relationship between a 17-year-old Italian-American, Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), and his father's American student, Oliver (Armie Hammer). It serves as the third and final installment in Guadagnino's Desire trilogy, following I Am Love (2009) and A Bigger Splash (2015).

It's the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17- year-old American-Italian, spends his days in his family’s 17th century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights. While Elio's sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart.

One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio's father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.

Luca Guadagnino has been internationally renowned for his critically-acclaimed films for quite some time now. But to be honest, I haven't seen any of his past works before, making Call Me By Your Name the first. I am planning to check out his previous film, A Bigger Splash, starring Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson, and Matthias Schoenaerts and I've been looking forward to his 2018 remake of Dario Argento’s cult classic horror film, Suspiria,starring Tilda Swinton, Chloe Grace Moretz and Dakota Johnson. Because I am not very familiar with his works, I really had no idea what to expect with Call Me By Your Name. To reiterate, I haven't read the book by André Aciman, therefore I am not in the right position to say whether this was a good adaptation or not. But judging it as a movie that I have seen in the cinema, I can confidently say that this is one of the year's best films.

I love the slow build-up of Elio and Oliver's relationship, with Elio at first resenting the latter for his American ways (like his unusual way of bidding goodbye with "later"). Eventually, he starts to become curious with this American stranger, until his curiosity develops into an attraction. It kinda reminds me of my favorite film, Petersen Vargas' 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten where the main character Felix who was originally curious about his new Fil-Am classmate Magnus, and ends up developing feelings for him. As his attraction starts to get get stronger each day (he starts secretly entering Oliver's room and smelling his underwear and thinking of him while masturbating), he is unsure whether he should tell the latter his true feelings. His parents advised him to do so, and when he does, it was poetic. Oliver soon reciprocates his feeling for him, thus starting a love story doomed to end once the summer ends.

The way all of this things unfold is what makes Call Me By Your Name different from most romantic coming-of-age films nowadays. The film doesn't rush it's story. Instead, it takes it time in letting it's main characters realize their true feelings for one another. The audience is left waiting and wanting them to be together, and when they do, it's beautiful. This could not have worked if not for the film's two amazing leads. Timothée Chalamet gives Elio that pale, young, fragile look which perfectly matches Armie Hammer's Oliver- vibrant, carefree, and masculine. The two of them looks good together. and whenever they play and flirt around in one scene from another, the screen is oozing with their chemistry.

Timothée Chalamet's portrayal of Elio was so raw and honest. The way his body moves, whenever he's dancing while walking around or whenever he's just alone in his room or when he is around with his friends, he is Elio and he definitely owns the role. The way he looks at Oliver, you can really see and feel the desire and emotions in his eyes. These are the same eyes that will break your heart in the film's finale. Armie Hammer partners this with his fun and vibrant performance as Oliver. He is believable as a scholar, and he wows everyone in one particular scene where he carefully explains the history of a name of a fruit. And once the two of them join together in one scene, it is explosive. The frame is burning with so much intensity and sexiness even before they start undressing. This may be the year's sexiest movie, way more titillating than the latest sequel of the Fifty Shades movies.


It's good to know that Guadagnino wasn't actually interested in sex in the movie. It was the same reason why he had to edit a lot of sexually explicit scenes in the film's original draft. According to him, he just wants to focus on two people having a moment. He wanted the audience to completely rely on the emotional travel of these people and feel first love And he did. And he did it so well that even if there were no explicit nudity from the two leads nor hardcore sex scenes happening onscreen, the picture still ended up scorching hot.

Luca Guadagnino also transports us into the hot summer of 1983 somewhere in Northern Italy with the film's beautiful soundtrack and luscious cinematography. The music matches the atmosphere of the film, nostalgic, wistful and will leave you longing for the yesteryear. The cinematography is so stunning. Each scene is blooming with colors and lights, making the picture look so crisp and real. You can really feel heat of the summer afternoons and feel the coolness of the refreshing water in the river with the film's cinematography. From the village of Crema, Lombardy to the quiet dirt roads where the two characters rides their bike, every single location comes to life with the long, luscious camera works. I especially liked the shots in the lake scene where Elio, his father and Oliver went to check out some pieces of antiquity recovered from the lake. The scene was so brightly lit that when they showed a close-up shot of the water, it felt like it was going to splash out of the screen. It was that gorgeous.

I also loved the script, penned by James Ivory. It was so poetic and memorable that you'd want to hear it over and over it. From the beautiful advises received by Elio from Amira Casar's Annella, his mother to the  heartfelt revelations by Michael Stuhlbarg's Mr. Lyle, his father towards the end of the film, every word was divine.

"We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster than we should that we go bankrupt by the age of thirty and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to feel nothing so as not to feel anything - what a waste!" 

-says Mr. Lyle to Elio in one of the scenes. These words, although beautifully written, are also painfully true.

" Nature has cunning ways of finding our weakest spot." I agree.

Then, just when you thought you could already breathe out of all the sadness of the film comes one of the most heart-wrenching post-credits scene in recent memory. God, Timothée Chalamet sure is a heart breaker. Call Me By Your Name is already a cult classic in the making. A film sure to steal all the trophies from the upcoming awards season. Luca Guadagnino's romantic coming-of-age story is an honest, sultry, poignant and beautiful portrayal of a boy's first love.

Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰  of 5

"Call Me By Your Name" (2017)

Directed by Luca Guadagnino, starring Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino : "Bar Boys" (2017) movie review

"The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things.”

“Kung hindi ka natatalo, hindi ka na gumagalaw.”

This quote from from the movie perfectly sums up the life of almost everyone of us.

College life is one of the most crucial phases in a person's life. A lot of first times happen during these years. It's the point of life when you start realizing that you are finally become an adult. This is also the time when one discovers his/ her real self. That's why a lot of us can really relate to the Kip Oebanda's youth-priented film Bar Boys (2017). I've learned about this film way back 2016 after seeing it's trailer and I was already looking forward to watching it back then. It took a year before the film finally got picked up for distribution through Quantum Films, after it was selected to be one of the twelve entries for the very first Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino. Described as an academic law school comedy-drama, the film follows a barkada of  four and their lives after they enter college (or some of them). The film is produced by TropicFrills Film Productions in cooperation with Wild Sound Studios and SM Foundation and features an ensemble cast starring Rocco Nacino, Carlo Aquino, Enzo Pineda and Kean Cipriano, together with Odette Khan and Anna Luna.

The film opens with one of the most unique and witty credit sequences I've seen in a local film, where a barkada of four young men are about to play against another group in an online battle. Here we are introduced to Christian (Enzo Pineda), Erik (Carlo Aquino), Joshua (Kean Cipriano) and Toran (Rocco Nacino). After losing in the said game, the four of them patiently waits for the results of the college entrance exam for the law school they all applied for. But only, Christian, Erik and Toran passed the admission exam. After this, we follow the three young men as they enter law school and how their lives are drastically changed by this new world. Here, they have to endure fraternity initiations to terror teachers, on top of their own problems with their families and relationships.

To start off, the characters we follow in the film are quite familiar already to us. Torran Garcia (Rocco Nacino) is the cool guy in the barkada, witty and always gets very lucky. Chris Carlson (Enzo Pineda) is the group's rich amboy whose father (also a lawyer) keeps on trying to mold him to be his clone. Erik Vicencio (Carlo Aquino) is the not so privileged guy of the group, a son of an elderly security guard whose biggest dream is for his son to become a lawyer, whatever it takes. Then, there's Joshua Zuniga (Kean Cipriano), the slacker of the group who ends up failing to pass the admission exam and gets left out by his peers. But despite being archetypes, these characters are very relatable and interesting in their own ways. This is because director/ writer Kip Oebanda made sure that each one of them (with the exception of Josh) will get his own story line to follow.

Torran ends up joining a frat, Chris has to hide his relationship with his girlfriend from his demanding father and Erik has to deal with financial issues, on top of having a hard time in school despite working his ass off in studying. Of all these three characters, I did not expected to end up falling for Erik (Carlo Aquino). It was his story that really hit me hard that I end up crying for him while watching the film. I guess it's because it's him that I could really relate to. I could really see myself in his shoes because we share the same story. I also had difficulty going through my college life due to financial issues, causing me to stop my studies and get a job instead of finishing college. But unlike me, Erik pushed through with his study despite the hardships.

Kip Oebanda's script was very witty and funny. Despite having to juggle three separate yet connected story lines for each of the three main characters, he was able to make the whole movie coherent. He had these segments for each characters, some focusing on each individual character's life at home or at school, and some while they are together. I loved those moments whenever Toran is at home with his mom (played by Patay Na Si Hesus' Mailes Kanapi) because they're always hilarious. There's also some heartwarming moments featuring Erik and his Dad at home as they struggle to keep him at school. We also get to see Chris and his quirky girlfriend (played by Unrequited's Anna Luna) while they try their best to keep their relationship despite his father's orders. But my most favorite would be those moments when they are inside the classroom, dealing with their terror teachers. These would be those scenes with a gay professor, Atty. Victor Cruz (played by 4 Days' Sebastian Castro) who has a crush on Erik which led to one of the most hilarious moments of the film. Then, there's those scenes with the classic terror professor that every student is mostly afraid of Atty. Hernandez (played in a wonderful performance by Odette Khan).

But aside from the usual comical gags, the film also tackles some really serious matter. Friendships will be strained. Family issues will get more complicated. Their morals will get tested. Slowly, these characters start to grow as individuals. Far different from the young guys they were before when they first entered the campus. This is what makes Bar Boys so endearing to watch. It's a classic coming-of-age story hidden underneath a hilarious comedy-drama about law school. You don't realize that you get so invested with these characters that you also grow as they move forward and turn into adults who are about to face the world. There's lots of lessons to be learned from this movie which makes it a must watch for younger people.

I must commend that this is the best ensemble I've seen in this year's Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino. Aside from the main cast, the supporting actors were all perfect for their roles. Mailes Kanapi was a delightful surprise as Toran's crazy and funny mother. Anna Luna was also fun to watch as the English-challenged direct salesgirl Rachel (girlfriend of Chris). Sebastian Castro was a stand-out as the gay professor Atty. Cruz. His office scene where Erik tries to seduce him (I'm not gonna reveal a lot to avoid spoiling it) was downright insane and hysterically funny. and then, there's Odette Khan. I'm telling you, she was amazing.

Of course, the main cast deserves a lot of praise for fun performance in the film. Kean Cipriano didn't get a lot of screen time but he was fun to watch as Josh. Enzo Pineda was good in playing the amboy rich kid Chris. Rocco Nacino played his role of Toran with ease. But it was Carlo Aquino who was the stand-out among the four. His portrayal of Erik was so affecting and heartfelt. I honestly did not expect that he will be my favorite character from this movie. I actually wished he and Sebastian Castro had more scenes together because I'm pretty sure their characters would be hilarious together. Also, I love how each of these characters had closure by the time the story ended. That ending is one of the best I've seen in a local film recently. It's was so inspiring and just perfect.

I guess this will be my top pick from this year's Pista ng Pelikulang Piilipino (next is Triptiko). Everything in this movie is just perfect, from it's slick, production design to it's awesome soundtrack (that sequence featuring APO Hiking Society's San Na Nga Bang Barkada triggered my memory of my school days!) to it's outstanding direction and bravura performances. Kip Oebanda's Bar Boys (2017) is no doubt my most favorite entry of all the films I was able to watch. It's a youth-oriented comedy drama, a coming-of-age story, and a throwback barkada flick rolled into one. For me, it's one of the best Filipino films of the year. This is the film in this year's PPP that I would love to give more than a perfect five star rating. It's a hilarious, heartwarming, emotional, and inspiring feel-good joyride that will leave more than what you expect.

Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰ of 5
Bar Boys (2017)
Directed by Kip Oebanda,
starring Carlo Aquino, Rocco Nacino, Enzo Pineda and Kean Cipriano

***

The "Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino" was a nationwide week-long celebration where all movie theaters exclusively screened Filipino films in line with the Buwan ng Wika. This festive event was organized by the Film Development Council of the Philippines in partnership with theaters nationwide and ran from August 16-22, 2017.

4 Days (2017) movie review

La douleur exquise : the exquisite pain of wanting someone that you know you can never have, and knowing that you will still try to be with them. This, according to the main character, is not equivalent to unrequited love. Unrequited love is a state of relationship, the other is a state of mind, says the main character. This is what the story of Adolfo Alix Jr.'s 4 Days is all about. Directed by Adolf Alix Jr., it stars Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro in the lead roles. It was part of the “Indie Nation” section of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2016. Now, after almost a year of it's debut at Cinemalaya, the film finally gets a premiere screening at the UP Cine Adarna last August 24, 2017. The screening was graced by the film's lead actors Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro, together with the film's director, Adolf Alix Jr. I've been looking forward to seeing this film since last year but I wasn't able to catch it's screening. So when I learned about the film's premiere at UP CineAdarna, I was so excited about it.

Screenshots from the trailer

The film tells the story of two college friends, Mark (Mikoy Morales) and Derek (Sebastian Castro) who slowly realize they mean more to each other than either had initially realized. 4 Days joins Derek and Mark in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day over the course of a few years- charting the blossoming of a friendship in to something much more enduring as time goes on – and challenging both to question who they thought they were and who they truly want to me. Painting a moving picture of how an abiding friendship can sometimes lead to love – and how we sometimes have to wrestle with our own demons to find their true self, 4 Days is achingly romantic and delicate.

The story, which spans over a course of four years, focuses on the events in the two characters' lives every Valentines Day. It begins on a Valentines Day, as Mark arrives at the campus and joins Derek as his roommate in their college dormitory. Then, the story skips to the following year's Valentines Day after the two have become the best of friends, with Derek having a new girlfriend and Mark starting to realize his true feelings for his friend. The progress jumps a year after another which may seem like big leaps. But the pacing of the movie is actually slow. The story takes it time in building up the relationship between the two main characters. Unlike the usual stories we see onscreen where we follow a continuous flow of events, 4 Days instead gives us a peek into these character's lives for just a single day for every year. Yet this is more than enough to show how both characters have grown and the changes that they've had for the missing days of the rest of the year which we do not get to see. Most of the film's story happens within the confines of Mark and Derek's small room. From their first meeting to their first heartbreaks, they experience all of it within their small space. This makes the story feel more personal, because we get to enter their small, little world where they can be real to each other.

Source: TLA Releasing

The film's story focuses on the idea of waiting. With Mark waiting for the right time, the right moment, to let Derek know about his true feelings for him. Waiting for him to realize that all this time, he was just there, waiting for him. Waiting for Derek to love him back. The story is told mostly from Mark's point of view, as he narrates through voice overs what he have in mind about loving someone and how it feels when it is not returned back. His statements about unrequited love, about patiently waiting for a person to love you back or how sometimes one get's tired of waiting for love to be returned are smoothly layered over drone shots of the campus (UP Diliman) which serves as bookmarks to every chapter (or year) that ends or begins. These bookmarks make the transition from one Valentines Day to another seamless and keeps the pacing of the story consistent. I noticed that the film is not like the usual LGBT-oriented romantic drama films that most of us has seen in the past because director Adolf Alix decided not to follow most of the genre's norm. Unlike other LGBT-oriented romance drama, the film strays away from the more erotic aspects of the genre. It doesn't involved any sensual scenes (my favorite film, the gay coming-of-age 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten is no exemption because it had a masturbation scene) between the main characters. Instead, it focuses on it's characters' emotions and the time it takes for them to realize their true feelings for one another. Another thing that I noticed and liked about the film is the way it deviates from how usual LGBT-themed films ends in a sad or sometimes tragic manner. But I won't get into that too much to avoid spoiling it.

Though the film was shot in a rush (director Adolf Alix revealed that they shot the whole film within a span of just 2 days due to the very small budget), the film actually looks good. From the drone shots accompanied by Mark's voice-overs to the those long, continuous shots (which they call babad shots because of the long takes), every frame looks good. There is a consistent sepia tone all throughout the film, giving an old-fashioned look, as if every chapter (or year) is like a memory of yesterday that has passed by and long gone. It evokes nostalgia, especially the campus setting which reminds one of his/her college days. The film's soundtrack was also beautiful and perfectly fits the whole story. The song, entitled "Pusong Hindi Makatulog" was an original song by lead actor Mikoy Morales (the song's music video was even directed by Adolf Alix).

I think director Adolf Alix found the best actors to play the characters of the movie with Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro. Mikoy Morales has this innocent looking face which perfectly matched his character Mark who is about to fall in love for the first time to someone of his same sex and has no idea how to deal with it. He did a pretty good job in carrying those intense emotional scenes with his co-actor, especially during their heated argument in the final act of the film. Sebastian Castro was perfectly cast as Derek. His character, a guy who has been in relationships with women for most of his life and just realized that he actually harbors some feelings for another man, is more reserved and prefers to keep his true self hidden from most of the world. Sebastian's portrayal of the role was restrained, but felt so real. During the film's Q&A session, director Adolf Alix revealed that the film didn't have an actual script when they shot it. He only gave the actors an outline of what's supposed to happen and the two are left to come up with their own character's dialogues. This gave the film a much more raw appeal because the character's reactions are organic. These two actors also shares some really nice chemistry, as seen with their smooth yet believable impromptu conversations. We were so engrossed with the story and the two characters that we felt like we've been with them and known them for a lifetime. The film felt like a coming-of-age of the two characters as they both come to terms of their true feelings for one another.

Featuring stellar performances from it's two leads, and great direction from Adolf Alix, 4 Days is a touching and memorable film that is grounded on reality, and will leave a lasting impact on it's viewers with it's raw and realistic take on love.



Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰ of 5
4 Days (2016, Original Release)
Directed by Adolf Alix Jr.
Starring Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro

Adolf Alix Jr.'s 4 Days premieres at UP Diliman, gets Worldwide Distribution

LGBT-themed romantic drama 4 Days premiered last August 24, 2017 at UP Cine Adarna. Directed by Adolf Alix Jr., 4 Days stars Sebastian Castro as Derek and Mikoy Morales as Mark, and tells the story of two college friends who slowly realize they mean more to each other than either had initially realized. 4 Days joins Derek and Mark in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day over the course of a few years- charting the blossoming of a friendship in to something much more enduring as time goes on – and challenging both to question who they thought they were and who they truly want to me. Painting a moving picture of how an abiding friendship can sometimes lead to love – and how we sometimes have to wrestle with our own demons to find their true self, 4 Days is achingly romantic and delicate.

Mikoy Morales as Mark

Sebastian Castro as Derek

It was part of the “Indie Nation” section of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2016. Now, after almost a year of it's debut at Cinemalaya, the film finally gets a premiere screening at the Cine Adarna, UP Diliman. The screening was graced by the film's lead actors Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro, together with the film's director, Adolf Alix Jr. In the said event, director Alix also screened the trailer of his latest film, Madilim ang Gabi (Dark is the Night) starring Gina Alajar, Philip Salvador, and Angel Aquino, which is set to have its world premiere at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival, and the Nora Aunor-starrer Role Play. The screening was attended by Morales' fellow teen actors Thea Tolentino, Jake Vargas, Joyce Ching, Kristoffer Martin and Martin Del Rosario to name a few.

Lead actors Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro said that they did not expected the screening to be a success, after the Cine Adarna theater was packed by audiences that night. Later after the screening, the director and the cast had a Q&A Session about the film, where Adolf Alix Jr. announced that the film will be distributed worldwide by TLA Releasing on September 11, 2017. He also announced that a theatrical release here in the Philippines is being planned this year.

Audiences lining up outside CineAdarna while waiting for the premiere.

Director Adolf Alix Jr. with Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro.

With Sebastian Castro

With Mikoy Morales

With the film's two leads

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino : "Birdshot" (2017) movie review

Mikhail Red's "Birdshot" (2017)

The highly anticipated "Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino" has officially begun last August 16, 2017. And I decided to kick off this film festival with Mikhail Red's "Birdshot" (2017). I've been hearing a lot of positive feedback about this movie so I was really excited to finally see it in the big screen. The film opened the 13th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival last August 4, at the CCP Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see it back then due to my busy schedule. Fortunately for me, the film is one of the twelve Filipino movies that has been selected to be part of the "Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino."

The coming-of-age thriller tells the story of a young farm girl who wanders off into a Philippine forest reserve. Deep within the reservation, she mistakenly shoots and kills a critically-endangered and protected Philippine Eagle. As the local authorities begin a manhunt to track down the poacher, their investigation leads them to an even more horrific discovery. The mystery-drama film has won production funding from the Doha Film Institute and the CJ Entertainment Award at BIFF's Asian Project Market. The mystery-drama film has also won the Best Picture in the Asian Future category of the 2016 Tokyo International Film Festival, and has been selected at the Goteborg Film Festival: The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award. The film, penned by Mikhail Red and Rae Red, stars Mary Joy Apostol as Maya, Arnold Reyes as Domingo, John Arcilla as Mendoza, and Ku Aquino as Diego. [Source: Cinemalaya]

"Birdshot" is undeniably one of the most compelling stories from the Philippines. It's story mixes a coming-of-age tale with a mystery thriller angle as it follows Maya, a teenage girl who is forced to face the consequences of her actions which results to a twisted and tragic fate for everyone involved. The characters in the story are all entangled in a web of lies and deceit, and the choices that they make eventually causes them to get pushed further into a darker path. The film tackles relevant issues that are plaguing the country today, from corruption of the authorities to police brutality. Some of the scenes in the movie eerily mirrors similar events that happened in recent years, such as the Hacienda Luisita dispute and the Maguindanao massacre. This gives the film a gritty and realistic feel.

The film did not clearly specified the era of when the story happened, but obviously, it's at a time when cellphones don't exist yet (at one point, one character is shown using a rotary dial telephone which gives us a clue of it's period drama setting). This adds up to the overall mystery of the story. I love how the film introduces multiple yet interesting subplots in the beginning of the film. These subplots are then interwoven together, forming one big web of drama and mystery. The film follows two separate cases that soon ties up smoothly in the film's ending. The first is the death of a haribon (Philippine eagle) inside a sanctuary. Maya unknowingly shot an eagle in the said sanctuary, breaking the law on endangered animals in the country. Her father, Diego, tries his best to cover up the crime to save his daughter from the prosecution (I'm guessing it's because his daughter is almost of legal age and will have to face the penalty for the violation, though I'm not really sure). The second story follows Domingo, a policeman investigating the disappearance of a group of men on their way to Manila. He and his partner, Mendoza soon discover their missing vehicle, a bus, empty without any clue on what happened to it's passengers. As he continue his investigation (despite the strict order of his boss to let go of the case), he discovers that there's a bigger conspiracy behind all of it that will change his perspective as a man of authority. Then, there's also a subtle reference to the supernatural along the way.

The different story lines made the film more interesting and enjoyable to watch because both plots offers different kind of thrills to the viewers. We feel worried for Maya and his father as they try to hide the truth about the death of the bird from the authorities. We are mystified if the unknown entity that Maya is seeing is really of supernatural origin or not. We are puzzled on what really happened to that missing group of men. We are anxious as to where this investigation will lead Domingo in the end.

In "Birdshot", director Mikhail Red proves that he is definitely one of the most promising filmmakers of the country that we should look out for in the future. Red's masterful direction is evident from the first frame of the film until the last shot. He is focused in every aspect of the film, even up to the tiniest details. The film may be a slow-burn thriller but he made sure that the tension is kept consistent from start to finish. His attention to detail makes the film's visuals more impactful. Cinematography-wise, "Birdshot" is eye-catching and breathe-taking. From the golden cornfields stretching across the land to the claustrophobic forest that is hiding a dark secret, cinematographer Mycko David  uses these locations to the film's advantage. Every scene is shot gorgeously, leaving the audience in awe. In addition to that, the wardrobe of these characters have this unique look that you usually see in Korean or Japanese movies, from the trademark red shawl of Maya's character to the vintage looking brown uniforms of the police, which gives the movie a distinct foreign look and feel.

Mary Joy Apostol gives a surprisingly good performance as Maya. Despite the fact that she is a newcomer to the film industry as this was her first full feature film credit, she was able to match her fellow actors in terms of acting. Ku Aquino who plays Diego, Maya's father, was also great. Cinemalaya 2017 Best Supporting Actor Dido Dela Paz is one hell of an antagonist. Arnold Reyes was outstanding in his role of Police Captain Domingo. He was able to give justice to his character, which was one of the toughest to pull off. His character had to go through a harrowing change along the way and Arnold depicted that in a convincing and believable way. He shined in that interrogation scene with him and Ku Aquino in the police station, which in turn was one of the most unforgettable moments of the film. John Arcilla never fails to amaze us with his committed performance as Domingo's partner, Mendoza.  His character also have the most memorable lines from the film (like "Paano tayo magsisimula kung ang meron lang tayo ay wala?") He and Arnold Reyes have great chemistry together: one is young and innocent about the lies and deceit in their surrounding, while the other is tenured and has gotten used to the evil and corruption around him and has learned to play along to survive.



The film's final moments is also one of the most unforgettable endings in a Filipino film. It's bloody, brutal, unsettling and eerie, especially the final revelation in the finale.

Mixing sharp social commentary with a compelling story, coupled with great performances of the cast and brilliant direction of it's helmer, "Birdshot" is a one-of-a-kind, must-see movie that elevates Philippine Cinema to a whole new level. This is the kind of movie that defines the word "astig".

Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰ of 5
"Birdshot" (2017)
Directed by Mikhail Red, Screenplay By Mikhail Red, Rae Red
Starring Mary Joy Apostol, Arnold Reyes, Ku Aquino, and John Arcilla

***

The "Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino" is a nationwide week-long celebration where all movie theaters will exclusively screen Filipino films in line with the Buwan ng Wika. This festive event is organized by the Film Development Council of the Philippines in partnership with theaters nationwide and will run from August 16-22, 2017.