Spoilers ahead. As naïve children, most of us had a tendency to see our parents through rose-colored glasses. We imagined them as polished, self-assured, and unflappable exemplars of adulthood. We aspired to be as strong as they are, and we were even more eager to obtain the life access they have. But this innocent vision blurs… Continue reading ‘Aftersun’ review: A Quietly Shattering Paternal Dance
Crimes of the Future is a 2022 science-fiction drama written and directed by David Cronenberg about a performance artist in the future, Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen). His main ability is the growth of new organs, with his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux) taking them out to a crowd to emphasize their unnaturalness. Eventually, he gets entangled… Continue reading ‘Crimes of the Future’ and the Evolution of the Divide Between Natural and Unnatural
Whenever I hear the term "main character," the first thing that pops into my head is Dakota Johnson in How to Be Single, particularly when she hails a taxi and tells the driver to bring her "home." I swear I still laugh whenever I remember it, but then I realized, isn't that a familiar scenario… Continue reading ‘The Ordinaries’ review: The Ultimate Manifestation of the “Main Character Energy”
The arrival of one man can make a rural town feel smaller than it should. Retired general Purna returns to his family home to start his mayoral election campaign. Born from a rich, renowned family, he is beloved by the townsfolk & his fellow peers in the military. As played by Arswendy Bening Swara, it’s… Continue reading ‘Autobiography’ review: Embrace the Lies, or Else
Adolescence is such a fiery age. It's no wonder most adolescent film characters exude such a tropical vibe. Andrea Arnold visualized this well in my personal favorites Fish Tank and American Honey by literally and figuratively playing with fire. To perfectly capture the blistering intensity of teenage life, she places her fervid protagonists against golden… Continue reading ‘I Have Electric Dreams’ review: An Inspection of A Paternal Bond Based on Faulty Wiring
Haider (Ali Junejo) is not a stereotypical man. He enjoys playing with his young nieces, hesitates in butchering livestock, lives off his wife Mumtaz’s (Rasti Farooq) salary, and doesn’t have kids of his own. He is physically smaller than his peers and is meeker than the usual cisgender heterosexual man. There is nothing he “truly… Continue reading ‘Joyland’ review: Defying the Rhythms of Masculinity
With his two films so far, director-writer-actor Cooper Raiff proves that his work are the party starters of life’s most awkward and formative phases. He started strong in 2020 with his debut Shithouse, where he tries to (awkwardly) groove into the beat of a collegiate neophyte. This year, he released his crowd-charmer sophomore Cha Cha… Continue reading ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’: A Tango of Clumsy Transitions
One of this year’s QCinema entries under the Asian Next Wave category is the Cannes Camera d'Or Special Mention awardee Plan 75. A feature debut of Chie Hayakawa, it has an intriguing yet harrowing premise: To combat the country's rapidly graying population, the government of a near-future Japan introduces a program called "Plan 75," which… Continue reading QCinema 2022: ‘Plan 75’—An Autopsy of a Morbid Life Retirement Program
Queer people have always been confined. Their visibility has always been limited to the quiet and privacy of one's own, left to linger in their desires that can't be celebrated in public. The dedication of their narratives through Rainbow Shorts in the 10th year of the QCinema Film Festival presents these issues no longer remaining… Continue reading QCinema 2022: RainbowQC Shorts—Intimate Intensities of the Queer Filipino Experience
Itim (also known as The Rites of May), Mike de Leon’s feature film debut released in 1976, revolves around a photographer (Tommy Abuel) who returns to the province to be with his father (Mario Montenegro) and to document the town’s Holy Week practices. During this time, he finds himself drawn to Teresa (played by Charo… Continue reading QCinema 2022: ‘Itim’ and the Ghosts of Injustice
Sine Liwanag 