Beautifully shot, director James J. Robinson’s debut feature film, First Light, is a slow-paced, meditative examination of corruption within idealized institutions. Collaborating with cinematographer Amy Dellar, Robinson presents a world that feels lost in time and space. The narrative unfolds in an unnamed village in the Philippines, near a decaying convent built during the Spanish occupation, a world seemingly unbothered by the modern intrusion of mobile phones or television. Its atmospheric opening, featuring the convent covered in darkness as nuns glide past with candles, initially made me believe that the film might be a period piece. It is toward the end of the first act, when a motorcycle appears on screen, that we realize we are actually grounded in the modern world.
First Light follows Sister Yolanda, played by Ruby Ruiz, whose faith is profoundly shaken following a tragic accident that results in the death of a young man. Driven by her moral compass to find some semblance of peace for the young man’s surviving family, she begins to unearth the complex power dynamics at play between a wealthy local clan, the government, and the church and how it ties to the suppression of the truth regarding the boy’s passing. Consequently, Sister Yolanda’s faith falters, igniting a journey to discovery begins.
First Light adopts a languid pace, slowly unfolding its world piece by piece with no rush or urgency. The film follows the daily life of Sister Yolanda, illustrating the extraordinary lengths she goes to for the parish, the people in it, her fellow sisters of the habit, and the church she so deeply believes in. Yet, while Dellar’s cinematography remains exquisite, the narrative pacing never truly picks up, even after the tragic death of the young man and her growing realisation about the world around her. This relentless slow-burn makes the film lack the energy it needs to fully delve into the raw emotion of Sister Yolanda’s own crisis of faith.
This slowness also takes the form through the line delivery, where characters take prolonged pauses between lines that has a tendency to kill the organic energy of a scene. This rhythmic hesitation makes the conversations sound noticeably scripted rather than natural, as if the actors are visibly waiting for a cue or a calculated emotional beat. Ultimately, a more naturalistic, free-flowing delivery of the dialogue would have greatly helped the film achieve the grounded mood.
At a certain point, things become a bit too easy; major discoveries are made with very little fanfare. Sister Yolanda’s own dealings, whether with the priest (Soliman Cruz), a fellow sister contemplating leaving the convent (Kare Adea), or Linda (Maricel Soriano), a wealthy matron whose mother is on life support and who Sister Yolanda visits to pray over, usually ends with a discussion but no real argument or debate. While the film constantly searches for an active conflict, it settles instead for a passive one: one of reflection.
Thankfully, Ruiz is exceptional at conveying these abstract thoughts and complex emotions within such a dormant narrative. There’s a lot of nuanced work here that fills in the storytelling gaps, and manages to create a version of Sister Yolanda that is remains consistently fascinating to watch. It’s in the lens of the mundane and the ordinary that we are watching all this unfold and Ruby Ruiz harnesses that effectively.
Ultimately, there are many interesting things that First Light does and tries to tackle. It juxtaposes images of our Spanish colonial history as an opposing, oppressive force over its less fortunate characters, creating links to the corruption upon many hallowed institutions, most especially the church. These are the interrogations I admire but I ultimately wish the film had approached this with a little bit more narrative energy.
My Rating: 2.5 Stars
Keep an eye out for First Light on the film festival circuit or look out for its upcoming digital and streaming release. It is a slow-burn narrative worth tracking down just to witness Ruby Ruiz’s powerhouse, quietly powerful performance!
