Tag: movie review

Movie Review: Not Fully Committing to Its Camp Potential, “Verity” Wastes Fine Performances by Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett

There’s a lot of good things going for Verity. First of all, its cast is amazing. Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett, I love these actors. The premise looks enticing: a writer is asked to ghost write the book of an author of a popular series after she gets into an accident, but not all is as it seems. And then there’s the genre. From my initial impression of the trailer, I thought it was going to be a horror film, but it’s actually more of an erotic thriller, which is just as good. As the movie progressed, though, I started to feel that its ambitions were not quite being achieved and that the film was veering into camp territory. Seeing Hathaway and Johnson’s performances sort of sealed it for me. It helps that director Michael Showalter is also a comedian, so there is an underlying understanding in the film’s structure and presentation that it should lean into those campy elements.

Unfortunately, the film is neither campy enough nor erotic enough to fully embrace its potential.

Verity | Image Source: Columbia Pictures PH FB Page

Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who is propositioned to finish the last three books of a popular series by Verity Crawford (Hathaway), who is unable to finish the book. She is encouraged by Verity’s husband, Jeremy (Hartnett), to accept the offer because Verity read her work and thought she was very good. The money offered, an attraction to Jeremy, and the praise given are enough for Lowen to take the job. She drives up to Vermont to stay in Jeremy and Verity’s house for a few days, going through all of Verity’s notes and outlines to start writing. There, she discovers Verity is now a paraplegic and can no longer talk or move. As Lowen begins her work, she is drawn into Verity’s life after finding an unpublished autobiography amongst her files, and a secret that turns her whole world upside down.

Verity | Image Source: Columbia Pictures PH FB Page

From the beginning, we are already made aware of Lowen’s mental state. Her mother died just a week prior, she’s being evicted from her place, her books are not selling well, and she takes medication daily, which tells us she’s not in the best frame of mind. So her choices become questionable every step of the way. When she starts seeing Verity move, we think that either one, she is going crazy or two, something else is going on. The film ensures that both possibilities could be true to mess with us.

Verity | Image Source: Columbia Pictures PH FB Page

Hartnett is so effective at playing Jeremy. As a loving father and husband, it’s easy to see why Lowen’s attraction to him grows stronger and stronger as the film unfolds. He has a gentle, everyman aura, and the care he shows Lowen can be enticing for a woman all wrung out by life. Johnson approaches the role with a delicate touch, oftentimes she’s a blank slate (likely due to the meds), but in later scenes, she becomes increasingly attached and invested. There are a wink and a smile to her performance that tells us she’s in on the joke, especially since her character can be a little silly. Hathaway, though, who appears primarily through flashbacks and interviews, really has fun with the role. Verity is a dangerous woman with dark, twisted thoughts, much like her books, and Hathaway clearly enjoys playing the villain, which makes us enjoy watching it all the more.

Verity | Image Source: Columbia Pictures PH FB Page

But the film relies on unnecessary jump scares to amp up the tension, and the sex scenes and nudity feel tame for the darkness at the core of the story. It has an R-16 rating after all, and for it to fully embrace its genre, it needs to get messier and sexier so we can truly feel that the movie is entering dangerous territory. For a film to be genuine camp, it has to be dead serious in its ambitions and fail spectacularly to earn that distinction. The film, though, knows it is a little silly but doesn’t totally commit to it. It also features a soundtrack with some songs that sound very “of the moment,” which undercuts the campiness of it all.

The film has quite a lot of twists and turns in its plot, which is all fine and good, but its final reveal and chosen conclusion run contrary to what it tries to make us believe. Instead of leaving me feeling amazed and impressed by the manipulation of my thoughts and feelings, the explanation of the film’s actual truth just doesn’t carry me over to its intended emotional destination, even if it was set up earlier.

My Rating: 2 Stars

Curious to see Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett unravel this twisted thriller on the big screen? Verity is showing in theaters nationwide. Catch it at a cinema near you, click here for showtimes.

October 13, 2026
Movie Review: A Straightforward Horror Film, “Other Mommy” Shines Through the Performances of Jessica Chastain and Arabella Olivia Clark

From the very first ten minutes of Other Mommy, we are immediately thrust into the terror. It’s a straightforward horror film that spends no time establishing the first act. Right from the get-go, we meet the titular Other Mommy, and the thrills and frights begin. It’s a really novel way to start a scary movie, wasting no time and going straight into the action. Director Rob Savage and screenwriter Nathan Elston (adapting Josh Malerman’s novel Incidents Around the House) get everything moving right away and it’s a wildly entertaining ride.

The story centers on seven-year-old Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark), who can tell something is not right with her mom and dad, Ursula (Jessica Chastain) and Russell (Jay Duplass). Ursula seems to be the more career-oriented parent, while Russell is the carefree, fun-loving stay-at-home dad. Luckily, or perhaps unfortunately, for Bela, she has a friend: a supernatural entity she calls Other Mommy. Other Mommy wants something from Bela; she wants permission to “be in her heart.” Within the first ten minutes of the film, the entity commits her first violent act and from then on, forcing Ursula and Russell to do whatever it takes to protect their daughter while guarding a dark secret of their own.

Arabella Olivia Clark (Bela) and Jessica Chastain (Ursula) in ‘Other Mommy’. (Courtesy of Universal Pictures)

This film cuts away from many traditional narrative beats seen in movies involving hauntings and children. Ursula and Russell immediately believe Bela. They never question what it is that they see, nor is there a plotline where the parents refuse to believe Bela or what they see. In fact, they remain quite level-headed about it considering they just experienced a paranormal event. It feels deeply refreshing to watch a horror film where the main characters make practical, sensible decisions.

But how do you stop an entity that can shape-shift and move matter at will?

Savage, alongside cinematographer Lowell A. Meyer and editor John Cutler, manipulates the mise-en-scene and mise-en-shot so that every camera movement and every jump cut becomes a potentially frightening moment. The film is not afraid to use jump scares, but they never feel cheap or unwarranted. Other Mommy is a playful demon. Surprise is part of its strategy. For the audience, though, it keeps you firmly on the edge of your seat.

Jessica Chastain (Ursula) in ‘Other Mommy’. (Courtesy of Universal Pictures)

While Chastain gets top billing – playing both Ursula and the primary form of Other Mommy – she earns every bit of it. She keeps the two characters distinctly separate, but when the music turns up and you realize you are looking at Other Mommy rather than Ursula, Chastain uses her entire physicality to embody the strain required for the entity to assume this human form. As Bela says early in the film, “she’s still new” at this. Chastain uses this raw physical tension to fully show this and it is remarkable to watch.

Arabella Olivia Clark (Bela) in ‘Other Mommy’. (Courtesy of Universal Pictures)

But this film ultimately belongs to Clark. The young actress carries the movie with her delicate portrayal of childhood innocence and being overwhelmed by all that is happening. When she observes her surroundings, she knows exactly the full context of what she is seeing. We understand the entire story through her eyes. It’s an incredible performance from such a young actor and it helps ground the film and gives the audience someone truly worth rooting for.

My only issue is the usual classic American approach to horror. The protagonists feel compelled to fight back, and American exceptionalism comes into play, and it undercuts the fear that is established. It is such an American response that if something is in your way, you have to get rid of it – kill it, even – regardless of what it is. Having watched plenty of Asian horror, where characters simply focus on surviving, Americans have to fight back, and it comes off as arrogant. At the same time, as good as the CGI can be, the overuse of it takes us away from the fear. Fortunately, Cutler is good at keeping the visuals very brief, cutting away quickly before the audience can linger on the CGI effects. Still, by the second half, some of the initial magic established at the beginning is gone.

There is a lot to enjoy in Other Mommy, and it will get the crowd screaming in fright. While it grows a little bit corny by the end, the film delivers enough suspense and thrills to make it well worth the price of the ticket.

My Rating: 4 Stars

Ready to meet Other Mommy? Catch Other Mommy in theaters now, just make sure you know who’s really tucked in at night. Click here for showtimes.

October 9, 2026
Movie Review: Blowing the Whistle: A Review of “The Social Reckoning”

A lot has happened since director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin released The Social Network 16 years ago. The social media landscape has shifted dramatically, and Sorkin was right to feel that there was more than enough material for a sequel. Written and directed by Sorkin, The Social Reckoning functions as a standalone sequel defined as a legal thriller. It follows a whistleblower exposing Facebook’s internal policies, detailing how they pose a danger to its users, and leading up to the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

We follow real-life whistleblower Frances Haugen (played by Mikey Madison) as she is contacted by investigative reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allan White), for an interview. Frances, a data engineer who is part of a team that is tasked to create safeguards for Facebook’s social and community interactions, has made several concerning observations. She has been trying to alert management, but no one seems willing to listen. So, she turns to Jeff so her voice can finally be heard. This leads to the discovery that the algorithm of the social media site with over 1.2 billion users has led to the radicalization of many of its users. Running parallel to her story, set three years later, Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong) prepares for a tense congressional inquiry as the reports begin to surface.

The Social Reckoning | Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

The film jumps between two separate timelines. One is independent of the other. Mark Zuckerberg seems unaware of what is happening in the past – where a loyal employee who loves the goal and ambition of Facebook, is talking to a reporter because the management doesn’t seem to care that the company is radicalizing its users. The use of the timeline jump emphasizes the coldness with which Zuckerberg runs his company and that the people above have no idea or care about what is happening on the ground. From the way Zuckerberg is failing the inquiry preparations, we can tell that all he cares about is the bottom line: profit.

The Social Reckoning | Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

It also helps that Jeremy Strong plays the older Zuckerberg almost like a robot: emotionless, cold, and guarded. He trusts no one. He is used to getting his way and treats everyone around him like they are there as subordinates. It is a calculated portrayal meant to make him feel culpable of all the things the film is blaming him for, and it does its job of creating a frightening villain for this take on the narrative.

The Social Reckoning | Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

While Jeremy Allen White does an amazing job as Jeff Horwitz, cool and composed as he goes about his job; he’s a real pro, not investing in the people and keeping his distance because he knows this can get ugly. But the few moments that he can show that he cares, it’s so evident. But the real heavy lifting comes from Academy Award winner Mikey Madison, who is at the center of all of this. She’s the spark that changes everything. Portraying Haugen as socially awkward and without a filter, Madison embodies someone who is accidentally funny yet completely relatable. She serves as the heart and soul of this film, and she carries it without breaking a sweat.

The Social Reckoning | Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

These great performances ground the film. True to Aaron Sorkin’s signature style, the dialogue comes packed with rapid-fire technical jargon line delivery, but you have to take it on faith that it will all make sense later. His world is real because he doesn’t dumb it down for the audience, he never sacrifices his world building for the audience who doesn’t pay attention. Instead, he writes his scripts in a way that allows a moment for everything to be explained and to be clear. Halfway through the movie, we understand what is at stake and there’s a lot that is at stake here.

The Social Reckoning | Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

This is a movie that encourages us to start asking questions about what we are exactly seeing online, how much of it is random and how much of it is intentional. It informs us that these social media sites are designed to keep us engaged, regardless of the negative effects they may have on our lives. Their goal is to make a profit out of this at the expense of our mental health and the integrity of our social fabric.

The Social Reckoning | Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

I really hope people get to see this film. If not to truly understand how insidious these social media platforms are doing to our society, then at least to witness the fantastic performances from its cast. Mikey Madison delivers a standout lead performance, and Betty Gilpin makes full use of her limited scenes to stand out in every scene as the editor of The Wall Street Journal. It’s a well-crafted film that hits all the right notes and delivers a hopeful ending, that is only undercut by the reality of what continues to happen today.

My Rating: 4 Stars

Powerful, timely, and driven by incredible performances from Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White, The Social Reckoning is a sharp, necessary piece of cinema that demands to be seen, not just for its outstanding lead performances, but for the essential questions it forces us to ask about the digital world we live in. Don’t skip this one. Check showtimes here.

October 8, 2026
MOVIE REVIEW: A Friendship That Feels Filipino: A Review of Forgotten Island

There are some animated features nowadays that seem tailor-made for the idea that younger audiences have shorter attention spans, so the film is directed loud and frenetic. Something is always happening, a gag or an action sequence, anything to grab the focus of an audience that might get bored if things slow down even a little bit. Maybe it’s my age, but I find it exhausting. Forgotten Island, the new animated feature from DreamWorks Animation directed and written by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, fits that exact mold. Centered around two teenage Filipina girls who find a portal to a mystical island inhabited by engkantos, all that energy and fast-paced storytelling can sometimes overshadow the film’s biggest asset: the friendship story of the two leads.

Jo (voiced by H.E.R.) and Raissa (voiced by Liza Soberano) live in an island province in the Philippines during the ’90s. They become instant best friends over a shared love of Philippine lower mythology, especially the manananggal.

(from left) Little Jo (Kailey Crawford), Lola (Dolly De Leon) and Little Raissa (Kayla Teruel) in DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado.

They grow up inseparable, finding themselves a bit like outcasts in the typical Filipino world they have known all their lives. But as graduation approaches, Raissa gets an offer to study abroad, putting their friendship to the ultimate test. When they discover a portal to bring them to Nakali, the mythical island of the engkantos, they jump in for one last adventure.

(from center left) Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano) in DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado.

There, they encounter all kinds of supernatural creatures and find themselves running from a manananggal whose wings they accidentally stole during a night of drinking. Through all the chaos, will Jo and Raissa be able to save their friendship when they get back home… and if they can even get back at all?

Manang (Lea Salonga) in DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado.

The best parts of the film really revolve around the relationship between Jo and Raissa. The two characters could not be any more opposite. Jo is literally incendiary, with a love for firecrackers and explosives, and she has a strong tendency to act spontaneously and recklessly. Raissa, on the other hand, is more cautious and book- smart, with little doubt that she will make her dreams come true with an American education.

Forgotten Island | Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Yet there is something in the way they are written that makes you truly believe these two girls are best of friends. A wonderful first-act setup cements that friendship, and H.E.R. and Soberano do an excellent job bringing these two characters to life with their voice acting.

Forgotten Island | Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

We see how their friendship gets tested as Nakali becomes an unexpected place for them to finally tell each other things they have kept hidden, whether out of fear of hurting each other or looking and acting foolish. It is the core of a great coming-of-age story, and against the backdrop of a fantastical land, the potential is endless.

Forgotten Island | Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

I am not personally a fan of the film’s fast-paced narrative pacing, but that comes down to a matter of taste. Crawford and Mercado do a great job of keeping things moving while directing their animation team through some truly gorgeous set pieces and artistic designs. The manananggal, voiced by Lea Salonga no less, is rendered in a way that is so different and delightfully twisted that it feels refreshing and new. As a viewer and someone who has deeply studied the lore of this specific aswang, seeing such a unique take was genuinely exciting.

Forgotten Island | Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

What holds me back is how westernized a lot of the other lore has become, for what maybe accessibility for a western audience or for not scaring little children. The kapres do not smoke, the duendes and the tiyanak are sanitized into cute mascots, and they even introdued a were-dog named Raww (voiced by Dave Franco), a creature I am not familiar with in all my studies of Philippine lower mythology. There are sigbins, sure, but they do not shape-shift into human.

Forgotten Island | Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

For a film set in the Philippines in the 1990s, much of the Filipino culture feels more like an aesthetic accessory than something that really pushes the story forward. The culture elements can be interchangeable with any other setting, and core story would still stand. There is no question that the movie is exceptionally well-made, but I am wary of turning our heritage into a surface-level commodity rather than treating it as something integral to the narrative’s themes.

(from left) Bungi (Manny Jacinto), Raww (Dave Franco), Raissa (Liza Soberano), Jo (H.E.R.) and Prince Mermahn (Kevin McCann) in DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado.

That is why the story of the two protagonists is the one that truly grounds this film, because that’s truly cultural with us: losing a friend or even a family member due to distance. Whether it is moving from the province to Manila or migrating from the Philippines to another country for education or work, this separation is a genuine concern for many relationships here. That is the part of the culture that feels so powerfully Filipino in this story, whereas everything else could easily be substituted.

(from left) Little Jo (Kailey Crawford) and Little Raissa (Kayla Teruel) in DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado.

Maybe I am just being territorial or possessive. I hope the film does well, but I have my serious reservations for the Filipino-American point-of-view for a story set entirely in the country. The two leads and all the engkantos speak with a westernized English accent, while every other local characters speaks English with a thick Filipino accent. What is with that othering? It is the exact question that kept popping into my head as I watched this work unfold.

My Rating: 4 Stars

Ready to watch Liza Soberano and H.E.R. trigger total mythical chaos while Lea Salonga unleashes her dark side? Round up your best friends, check showtimes, and get your tickets to Forgotten Island today, just try not to lose your wings on the way in!

September 23, 2026
MOVIE REVIEW: Zach Cregger’s Take on ‘Resident Evil’ Is Scary AF and Funny as Hell

There is really nothing quiet like sitting in a packed cinema while watching a really good horror film. That was what my exact reaction to watching Zach Cregger’s Weapons last year, and he gave me the same experience with his take on the Resident Evil franchise. His film feels like a fresh setup for the wider universe. By intentionally avoiding familiar characters from the games and previous movies – while I have watched people play the game but not for long periods, and so all I know of the franchise comes from the film adaptations – so it’s a way for viewers unfamiliar with the lore to easily get in. He focuses purely on the simplicity of the story so that he can deliver extremely scary moments and absurd situations that elicit screams and laughter in equal measure.

Resident Evil follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who takes on an extra shift to deliver a critical medical package to Raccoon City General Hospital, miles up a mountain in the dead of winter. Motivated by news that his girlfriend might be expecting a baby, he lies about his car being equipped for traveling during heavy snow and embarks on the treacherous drive anyway. What he doesn’t know is that an outbreak has already overtaken the town, leaving the undead creatures of the franchise freely roaming the streets.

Resident Evil | Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures

Abrams serves as an amazing foil for us to follow. Despite his rough, gruff attitude and the failure to communicate properly with his girlfriend over the news makes him difficult to empathize with at first, the moment he accidentally hits a woman on the road, he immediately stops to help her and rush her to the hospital. We all know in our seats that this is a massive mistake. But he does not know that, and while he could easily escape, he stays. From that moment, Cregger and co-screenwriter Shay Hatten have us completely rooting for him. Abrams possesses a wonderful everyman presence that keeps him relatable, delivering a fully committed performance that grounds the character (he really looks and acts terrified when things start happening) but also manages to amplify the comedy. He is exhausted, overworked, and just wants to earn money and to do a good job. As things get progressively weirder and weirder, he stubbornly soldiers on. It is such a clever, well-written character and Abrams plays it to a tee.

Resident Evil | Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures

Cregger then assumes a directorial approach heavily inspired by the video game. Tight, over-the-shoulder camera angles following the sliver of light from Bryan’s cellphone turn every dark corner into a potential jump scare. The score enters and exits with surgical precision, at just the right time that you don’t realise you are being emotionally primed for frights or laughs. When Bryan swerves his light to illuminate a strange noise, the camera lags behind by just a fraction of a second – much like a video game – and the connection to the game is there and makes the whole experience feel really immersive. We are not just emotionally tied to Bryan; we are locked directly to what he sees. We are just as vulnerable as he is.

Resident Evil | Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures

The storytelling moves at a fast-paced, action-packed pace. The rhythm is so good that Cregger and editor Joe Murphy pace the quiet moments with the thrilling ones. They steadily build the tension as we reach Raccoon City, straight into the heart of the infestation.

Resident Evil | Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures

There is no real social commentary or grand metaphor that strikes me as I recall this movie, and for some reason, I don’t seem to mind at all. If anything, it is a realisation that Bryan ends up making about the possibility of him being a father, which happens at just the right moment, to heighten the stakes and the need to survive. What it does, though, the script uses this moment to deepen Bryan’s character, cementing our connection with him but makes no big statements either way.

Resident Evil | Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures

At its core, this is just a straight-up horror film that happens to be wickedly funny. It’s very well-made; the filmmaking is precise and exquisite. It is exactly the kind of movie you really want to experience in a packed theater with your friends, and hope that it’s packed so that everyone is laughing and screaming with you. It’s an experience that should be shared collectively and, honestly, I really don’t mind watching it again. Sometimes a film can exist purely just for fun with no big ambitions for any higher purpose and that’s perfectly okay. It delivers what it promises, and for that, I absolutely adore it.

My Rating: 5 Stars

Packed with visceral scares and side-splitting comedy, Resident Evil is an absolute blast best experienced in a packed theater with your entire barkada. Check showtimes here.

September 19, 2026
MOVIE REVIEW: What We Will (and Must) Remember: A Review of ‘Edjop’

The key to grasping Katski Flores’ Edjop, I believe, lies in the phrase that closes the film’s opening sequence: “Inspired by memories of real events.” Edjop is not a straightforward biopic of Edgar Jopson, the legendary student activist and rebel leader of the Martial Law era. Nor is it docufiction; the film takes deliberate creative liberties to embody authentic emotional truths rather than rigid historical accuracy. As Flores noted of her collaboration in the writing of the screenplay with Jade Castro, they both worked on the recollections of Jopson’s family and friends, and the film retells events from their perspectives.

Edjop is a non-linear tale told in two timelines. The first anchors us in the present with his daughter, Joyette Jopson (Jodie Sta. Maria), a triathlete competing in an Arctic marathon.

Courtesy of EdjopTheMovie

She is constantly asked to join memorials and events recalling the horrors of Martial Law, a period in which her father is a key figure of, but Joyette actively resists. Her athleticism, her running, is a metaphorical running away from his legacy.

Courtesy of EdjopTheMovie

Yet she is haunted by the stories of him and these form the second timeline of the film, as it recounts her father, Edgar Jopson (Elijah Canlas) as he becomes a student activist during the First Quarter Storm of the early 1970s into a full-blown underground communist rebel, on the run from the Marcos regime. Through this converging tracks, Joyette embarks on a journey to reconcile her father’s disappearance and come to terms with myth of a man she never truly knew.

Courtesy of EdjopTheMovie

The film is not just marked by its two converging timelines, and I say converging because Flores and Castro write this film as if the past and present are entangled with each other; no easy feat. The two halves of Edjop could not be more different. The present-day scenes are shot on a mounted camera, mostly static, with Joyette framed in large, wide-open spaces. She is a woman burdened by the weight of the past.

Courtesy of EdjopTheMovie

The flashbacks, the scenes set in the past detailing her father’s activist life are shot handheld, packed with extreme close-ups. The pacing is fast-paced and thrilling. The charge of revolution vibrates through every scene, causing the two worlds to collide at every cut. Editor Benjamin Tolentino does an excellent job pacing the film, making its two-hour runtime fly by. So much is happens as we are pounded by historical events, yet it never feels aimless or drawn out.

Courtesy of EdjopTheMovie

Sta. Maria and Canlas serve as excellent foils for the audience, standing as polar opposites of each other. Sta. Maria’s Joyette is dealing with an internal struggle, her conflict simmers just underneath her facial expressions, in her posture and gait, and in the quiet nuance delivery of her lines. On the other hand, Canlas is vibrant and larger-than-life.

Courtesy of EdjopTheMovie

His Edjop, the nickname of Edgar Jopson, is a character told from the collective memories of the people, friends, and family, demands a much larger canvas, and Canlas paints on it brilliantly. We also watch him evolve from an idealistic student activist into a full-blown underground rebel balancing family life, with his portrayal of the man shifts as the film leaps across timelines. It is exquisite work, really.

Courtesy of EdjopTheMovie

Edjop feels big; it feels epic. Flores and cinematographer Neil Daza deliver excellent visual coverage, allowing the camera full freedom to capture the vast breadth of each scene. And we leap seamlessly from past to present, sweeping across Luzon, Mindanao, and Norway, moving from street rallies to a quiet town fiestas, and into the brutal chaos of a demolition job. This is a big movie that fully realises the ambitious scope of what it is trying to say.

Courtesy of EdjopTheMovie

There are a few too many moments where the script takes a heavy-handed approach to Edjop’s dialogue. It gets a little too preachy at times, constantly dropping nuggets of wisdom clearly designed to encapsulate the things we need to take away from the film. Then again, this is all based on the memories of the people who remembered him. Ultimately, Edjop is meant for a specific audience: those who have forgotten, or perhaps never truly knew about the specifics of what really happened during the Martial Law era and the Marcos dictatorship.

Courtesy of EdjopTheMovie

This is a big movie making big swings at any form of historical revisionism. It speaks about our history, reminding us of our heritage of fighting back whenever the system is turned against us. We all know about the EDSA Revolution, but films like Edjop exist to remind us that countless battles were fought long before the people finally surged onto EDSA. The film shows us precisely how we got there and also what sacrifices were made along the way. This is part of our history, and this movie asks us to never forget.

My Rating: 4 Stars

Anchored by magnificent performances from Elijah Canlas and Jodie Sta. Maria, Edjop is an essential big-screen experience. It is a technical triumph and an urgent piece of Philippine cinema that refuses to let history fade. Check out the latest showtimes here and catch it in theaters nationwide.

September 18, 2026
MOVIE REVIEW: The Story He Wanted to Tell: Na Hong-jin’s South Korean Sci-Fi Action Thriller Hope

Action-packed and relentless, Na Hong-jin’s Hope is a tireless sci-fi action thriller whose story unfolds over a single day during an alien attack. It’s a long film, running at approximately 156 minutes, but you don’t feel it. Every scene is loaded with information, steadily building the tension before erupting into a hair-raising battle across a tiny, quaint seaside town in northern South Korea and simultaneously the surrounding woods. Surprisingly, there’s not a lot of stories here, yet the film keeps you rooted by giving us characters to root for and energetic action sequences that send the adrenaline pumping.

Hope follows Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min), the police chief of a quiet coastal town called Hope Harbor. He begins by investigating what initially appears to be a violent animal attack on a large cow, except the deep wounds are larger than any local animal in the area and the cow’s bloody carcass is left uneaten. While hunters, led by Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), rally into the surrounding woods to investigate, Bum-seok returns to town only to discover that whatever creature had attacked the cow has already reached Hope Harbor.

For a good 50 minutes, Na withheld the monster entirely. Instead, we are shown the massive carnage the creature has wrought upon the town. Whatever this thing is, it operates with destructive, massive, and terrifying efficiency. Through it, we come to understand Bum-seok and Sung-ki as characters as the tension over the creature builds. We get to know the town too and see how quickly the whole community spring into action.

Hope | Photo courtesy of Pioneer Films

The setup reminds us that South Korea has one of the most well-trained populace where nearly every adult male has undergone military service. Everyone knows how to handle a firearm and very surprisingly, in this little town of Hope Harbor reveals an access to military-grade weaponry that appears out of nowhere. When Bum-seok asks the townsfolk on where they got the arsenal, their response is “Don’t ask.” Later, when his rookie officer, Sung-ae (Hoyeon), rescues him, she answers the exact same line.

Clearly, there is more to this town than meets the eye. By the time Na finally reveals the monster, which we later learn are aliens, we already know these characters well, we know the ins-and-outs of the town and the surrounding woods, and we can see how powerful the aliens are. These extraterrestrials possesses immense power and it’s going to take far more than a handful of firearms to bring one down, let alone four.

Hope | Photo courtesy of Pioneer Films

Once the action starts, it never lets up. Director Na, who is also the screenwriter, along with cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo do a marvelous job of keeping the energy running. It’s fast-paced, with dynamic coverage. Because these creatures are fast and strong and so there’s a lot of running, high-speed car chases, and endless gunfire, so its soundscape is loud and heart-racing. It really gets you into the moment and it does the trick in immersing you in the immediate danger.

Hope | Photo courtesy of Pioneer Films

It slows down again in the middle to explain things just a little bit before ramping up the danger and bringing us back into the action again so that we can see Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton as the faces of these aliens. Interestingly enough, every alien is rendered through motion-captured performance CGI, and Na has cast western actors in that role. Does this have an anti-colonial message behind it?

Hope | Photo courtesy of Pioneer Films

I’m not sure, really. As noted earlier, there’s not much of a story. There’s no character that truly grows out of an internal conflict. Hope operates as a pure, adrenaline-inducing ride, and that’s fine. I got what I needed from this film, and it doesn’t have to have some profound thematic message, though it does reserve something interesting, unexpected turn at the very end of the film.

Hope | Photo courtesy of Pioneer Films

With a big, epic imagery that amps up the destruction to its peak, the aliens finally get to speak in the film’s climax. And from their brief dialogue, we are giving hints of a story that the audience isn’t privy to because we’ve been following the humans in the film. These aliens have their own backstory. There’s a larger story here at play; but it’s none of our concern. Na Hong-jin, as a filmmaker, is only interested in the South Koreans in the story and I love that about the film.

My Rating: 4 Stars

Experience the heart-pounding action and high-octane thrill of Hope on the big screen. Form your own verdict on Na Hong-jin’s sci-fi spectacle: now showing in cinemas nationwide. Get showtimes here.

September 3, 2026
MOVIE REVIEW: Exquisitely Shot, ‘Filipiñana’ Trades Local Aesthetics for European Arthouse Style

Director and screenwriter Rafael Manuel definitely knows how to compose a shot. His debut feature film, Filipiñana is gorgeous to look at. It creates striking images that highlight the social inequality in our country through the symbolic film’s setting of an elite, members-only country club and golf course while simultaneously displaying a keen sense of the absurd. Shot alongside cinematographer Xenia Patricia, the film takes us on a journey into the ins-and-outs of the country club: which is no doubt an unmistakable metaphor for our nation’s struggle with class division and exploitation.

But other than its visual flair, Filipiñana seems to lack urgency as its narrative meanders through its bare plot, building up toward a climax that leaves the audience with no real catharsis or release.

Photo courtesy of Epicmedia Productions Inc. | Credit: Xenia Patricia

Its 100-minute running time is surprising because experiencing this movie feels as long as a Lav Diaz film with its static camera and penchant for silences. Yet when Diaz does this slow-burn approach, he infuses these long drawn-out shots with so much palpable pathos, anger, and rage. Whereas Manuel feels content with giving us just snapshots but keeping us at a distance.

Photo courtesy of Epicmedia Productions Inc. | Credit: Xenia Patricia

Filipiñana follows Isabel (Jorrybell Agoto), a newly hired caddie at an exclusive country club and golf course. As she learns the ropes of the job – hunting down lost golf balls, teeing them up for the club’s wealthy clientele, and performing other odd jobs – the film lays bare the stark disparity between her and the other tee girls and the elite patrons they serve.

Photo courtesy of Epicmedia Productions Inc. | Credit: Xenia Patricia

For added contrast, the film also takes a moment to follow Clara (Carmen Castellanos), as she accompanies her uncle, Renato (Carlos Siguion-Reyna) around the course as he tries to convince her to come home from America and work in the country club with him. Yet while Isabel slowly wakes up to the harsh reality of the world, Clara shows no appetite for it, her eyes already opened from the privilege of having left the country and seeing it with new eyes.

Photo courtesy of Epicmedia Productions Inc. | Credit: Xenia Patricia

Manuel takes his time to build his world, to establish the workings of his metaphor. It’s scene after scene that creates a rich tapestry of images that shows the exploitation at work and the stark realities of class divide in full display. The film unfolds almost like a slice of life, except each successive scene exposes fresh cracks in the shiny, manicured veneer of this world breaking.

Photo courtesy of Epicmedia Productions Inc. | Credit: Xenia Patricia

By all intents and purposes, I should love this movie, for what it says about our social structures and for its exercise of restraint. Yet the film embraces its arthouse aesthetic that the very world that I’m living in, a reality I am deeply cognizant of, feels strange and distant to me. Manuel takes his cues from that global indie playbook where the camera remains static and when people speak, they deliver their dialogue with deliberate slowness, as if every single word is precious, which makes it feel scripted, unnatural.

Photo courtesy of Epicmedia Productions Inc. | Credit: Xenia Patricia

Take the scenes where the tee girls take their breaks, lying in clumps to escape the oppressive heat. Not a singled person gossips, complains, or speaks about the world. Manuel’s world leans so heavily into formalism that while I can see the visual markers of my country and its current socio-political state, I don’t see its soul playing out in the movie.

Photo courtesy of Epicmedia Productions Inc. | Credit: Xenia Patricia

It’s very well-executed but it feels like a foreign approach telling a local story. That raw energy, that visceral struggle that I relate to with the Filipino experience has been smoothened over by a European arthouse tempo that feels out of touch with its subject matter. Seeing the reviews of Wester critics tells me that it worked, they love it. High marks and praise from critics on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet with a story so in touch with the issues of the country, I was hoping to see that Filipino fire inside these characters, in the unfolding of the narrative.

My Rating: 2.5 Stars

Experience the striking visuals and quiet tension of Filipiñana on the big screen. A visually stunning debut that sparks necessary debate, form your own verdict on Filipiñana: now showing in cinemas nationwide. Get showtimes here.

September 1, 2026
CINEMALAYA 22 FESTIVAL REVIEW: ‘2 Valid IDs’ Is a Wrecking Ball to the Bureaucratic Hell of the Country

There is a raw confidence and a purposeful approach behind 2 Valid IDs that makes it impossible to look away, no matter how painful the film becomes. Director Ma-an Asuncion-Dagnalan’s second Cinemalaya entry following explosive, politically charged Blue Room finds her returning to social issues alongside screenwriter Abet Pagdagdagan Raz. This time, however, they deploy a quiet restraints that steadily mounts, perfectly mirroring what it feels like when one is caught in the bureaucratic hell that is the labyrinthine systems of this country. By placing the sheer inanity of filing for many government forms front-and-center in this film, and we can only watch this with grim familiarity but not with the same sense of urgency that it has for its characters.

We follow Sylvia (Marietta “Pokwang” Subong), an Ilocano farmer, who has brought her husband Ramon (Joey Marquez) to a public hospital in Manila to treat his worsening respiratory illness. With their provincial hospital ill-equipped to handle with his condition, medical expenses quickly mount, even at a public hospital, driving the couple into quiet desperation.

2 Valid IDs | Image Source: Cinemalaya.org

A family relative working abroad has sent money through a remittance center, only for Sylvia to hit an immediate wall at the remittance center: they won’t accept her PhilHealth ID, and as a first-time customer, she is required to produce the eponymous two valid IDs. Forced to navigate the maze of government agencies to secure them, Sylvia must now apply for two valid IDs but the system, as we are all aware, is not an easy one to take or follow.

2 Valid IDs | Image Source: Cinemalaya.org

The premise is elegant in its simplicity because Asuncion-Dagnalan and Raz make full use of the film’s setting and milieu to show us the horrific state of healthcare in our country. How much it is lacking for those who cannot afford even the basic necessities, capturing the indignities we rarely consider, like patient guardians have to stay in what looks like a parking lot turned dorm during the evening – things we take for granted when we go and visit the hospital. As Sylvia goes from one bureaucratic window to the next, clearing one absurd hurdle only to run straight into another, the camera patiently documents the excruciating waste of time and human energy, the inaccessibility of things we need to survive.

2 Valid IDs | Image Source: Cinemalaya.org

2 Valid IDs is so unapologetically upfront about its social commentary that it commands your complete attention. The lens zero in on all the cracks in the system and how it fails people like Sylvia and all the other patients and the countless families crammed into that hospital. Ultimately, this is a film about how our systems have failed to meet the needs of its most vulnerable citizens and, through its shocking finale, it highlights how the citizenry chooses to react.

2 Valid IDs | Image Source: Cinemalaya.org

Heavy as the film is, its weight is tempered by a deep, compassionate understanding of the Filipino’s sense of family. Beneath the bleakness, there is still warmth and tenderness here. Asuncion-Dagnalan and Raz purposefully carve out room to celebrate what can be celebrated and can find some measure of humor despite the burden these characters carry. 2 Valid IDs is as cynical as it is furious, yet it never reduces its characters to mere mouthpieces or tragic caricatures.

2 Valid IDs | Image Source: Cinemalaya.org

Subong is a powerhouse, carrying the full emotional and thematic weight of the film’s message on her shoulders. She makes Sylvia intensely relatable. She’s fierce but also out of her depth. Subong’s performance is rooted in such great humanity that she juggles the character as both a fully formed person but also a stark symbol of those left behind by this country’s inability to get its act together. Marquez is always a solid performer, giving Subong so much to work with and to ensure that her mission is evident. While dependable Meryl Soriano shines as the Manila-based relative guiding Sylvia through the city’s ins-and-outs, it is Zaijian Jaranilla who truly stands out. Playing Denver, a young guardian tending to his grandfather in the same ward as Ramon, Jaranilla injects a hopeful warm energy into the film. A kind heart, Denver is a breath of fresh air and a sign that the Filipino resilience has pervaded among the youth. The way he navigates his scenes, especially in one dramatic moment near the end, creates such a profound effect that helps underscore the film’s message even further.

2 Valid IDs | Image Source: Cinemalaya.org

2 Valid IDs is as unapologetic as it is bold. There are so many ways for it to shift to satire but this one holds its ground to say its point loud and clear. And it demands that we should not just watch. but listen and demand the change we deserve.

My Rating: 5 Stars

A searing look at bureaucratic hell you cannot afford to miss, 2 Valid IDs is now showing on the big screen. Check showtimes and grab your tickets today.

Don’t miss Cinemalaya 22: Reel Reflections, running August 6 to 18 at Red Carpet Cinemas (Shangri-La Plaza), Gateway Cineplex 18, and Ayala Malls Cinemas. Witness a stellar lineup of stories that will move you and showcase the brilliance of local filmmaking. Follow the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Cinemalaya for official updates.

August 12, 2026
CINEMALAYA 22 FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: Dustin Celestino’s ‘A.ni.mal’ Is a Comedic Departure From His Previous Cinemalaya Work

If, like me, you are only familiar with Dustin Celestino’s work through his last two Cinemalaya films, Duyan ng Magiting and Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan, then you’d think that his third entry to beanother serious, politically charged drama. But A.ni.mal is nothing like Celestino’s first two critically acclaimed Cinemalaya films. ‘A.ni.mal’ is a funny, dark comedy; a satire that explores one of the many faces of evil; breaking it down to its most mundane form in an almost farcical tragic comedy that strips away the pristine facades of people in the public eye.

The film centers on a leaked stolen cellphone recording of a Governor (Reymund Domingo) being intimate with his dog. The recording was captured by his goddaughter, Lily (Maxine Ignacio), who is the daughter of the mayor (Jojit Lorenzo). Lily, who imagines herself a young progressive, wants to protect the dog. After all, she volunteers at a pet shelter to prove she’s not just another nepo baby. But the video becomes a contentious topic. The Mayor wants it deleted but his wife, Ofel (Frances Makil-Ignacio), sees an opportunity to weaponize the secret and curry favour with the Governor’s wife, Grace (Bituin Escalante). The video’s mere existence and the subject matter of its content thrusts all the characters into a moral dilemma that becomes an exhibition of the worst of human nature.

Cinemalaya 22 A.ni.mal | Photo courtesy of Sine Metu Media Productions

From the onset, A.ni.mal is hilarious, often-times absurd, and a clever and biting in its social commentary. The characters’ political nature and their desperate need to maintain the importance of their public image and branding becomes the focal point of many of the comedic elements. How these characters present themselves to the public are very much the opposite of what lingers in their minds. Shot entirely on iPhone 17 Pro Max, Celestino and Director of Photography Kara Moreno are not afraid to get really up close into the actor’s faces, capturing the nuances of their expressions. A lot about who we are is hidden but when the camera gets that close, everything is revealed.

Cinemalaya 22 A.ni.mal | Photo courtesy of Sine Metu Media Productions

The film’s cinematography generated an almost raw, documentary-like effect. Through handheld camera work, natural lighting, and an intense proximity to the subjects, Celestino and Moreno layer the film with added meaning. The imagery evokes the language of mobile screens, cellphone recordings, dramas, memes, and other viral videos we watch on our mobile phones. It adds a texture of engagement with the material, meant to create a relationship with the audience. What they are seeing onscreen is akin to what they watch all day on their phones.

Cinemalaya 22 A.ni.mal | Photo courtesy of Sine Metu Media Productions

Witty and clever, A.ni.mal is propelled by spectacular performances, most notably from Maxine Ignacio, Bituin Escalante (whose terrifying third-act monologue is absolutely electrifying), and Anthony Falcon, who plays a veterinarian at the pet shelter, who serves as the film’s moral core, to a certain point. All the performances are solid here; another perfectly synergized ensemble in a Dustin Celestino film but certain characters do stand out.

Cinemalaya 22 A.ni.mal | Photo courtesy of Sine Metu Media Productions

At the very center of this is Ignacio’s Lily, who carries most of the outrage at the film’s beginning that pushes this narrative forward and when her character is later fully revealed, do we see the brilliance of Ignacio’s approach. Each of the actors understand the dramatic frequency needed to fully embody this hilarious satire, and they use it for full effect.

Photo courtesy of Sine Metu Media Productions

It is easily the most visually fluid work in Celestino’s filmography. The precise camerawork, thoughtful mise-en-scene, and the framing constantly amplifies and highlights the film’s themes. While just as politically charge as Duyan ng Magiting and Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan, this entry feels far more accessible.

My Rating: 5 Stars

A.ni.mal is now showing on the big screen. Check cinema showtimes near you and grab your tickets today.

This year, don’t miss Cinemalaya 22: Reel Reflections runs this August 6 to 18 at Red Carpet Cinemas (Shangri-La Plaza), Gateway Cineplex 18, and Ayala Malls Cinemas. Witness another stellar lineup of stories that will move you and showcase the brilliance of Philippine cinema. Follow the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Cinemalaya for updates.

August 9, 2026