Carlo Ledesma's sophomore feature fiction is his first wholehearted venture into the domain of horror movies. Although his previous attempt at horror-“Tunnel” (2011) was labelled as such, it didn't quite manage to raise as much as an eyebrow. With his majorly praised script penned for Avid Liongoren's animated fantasy drama “Saving Sally” (2016), the curse was broken, and his talent for suspense became obvious. Three years into the film's success pretty much owned by its writer, Ledesma returned behind the camera with “Sunod”, a dynamic, nail-biting watch with many twists and turns.
“Sunod” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival 2020
The core story might sound familiar – a desperate single mother is trying to keep her severely ill daughter alive at all costs, and when the much awaited wonder happens, it comes with frightening consequences. One is fooled into believing that the film will follow the safe horror patterns, but the way the plot around the basic ideas summoned above is woven, bursts with ideas.
Disregarding well-oiled tropes borrowed in just about right quantities, the narrative presents many surprises under the powerful lens of the veteran cinematographer Mycko David with the palette of chilling blues dominating the screen, effortlessly graded by Biba Abiera. The atmosphere is constantly changing, paced in a way that the shocks get amplified by a different type of dread found in the mundane survival game, and then tuned down by returning to the emotional, ‘normal' segments of the main protagonist's life.
The titular character Olivia (Liv) is played by the great Philippine actress Carmina Villaroel, who had already proven her versatility in over 90 film-and television roles. In “Sunod”, she carries the weight of the story with her portrayal of an introverted, strong single mother who fiercely fights obstacles on a very bumpy road, regardless if they come in human, material or super-natural shape.
Strong casting choices made by Danna Simbre had an undeniable impact on the quality of the film, including young rising star Rhed Bustamante, who plays the role of the wicked child ghost Nerisa with a hair-raising ease. She is not a stranger to playing in horror films, and her biography includes a role in Erik Matti's “Seklusyion” (2016). Slightly her senior, but with a much less acting experience is Krystal Brimner, who slips into the skin of Olivia's daughter Annelle, a bed-ridden teenager with a congenital heart defect, whose dream is to be on the stage one day, performing her own music on the guitar to broad audiences. Brimner is so at ease in Annelle's shoes, that her transformation from a weak, sweet girl into a raging beast comes at you with a blast, and should have she been an English native speaker, with her talent and looks, she would be already booked internationally.
The movie starts as a family drama that also points at the societal injustices in the Philippines, showing the hardships that people without a high income have to face, mostly those related to the treatment of patients with severe health issues. The hospital where Annelle is treated at is depicted with a face-smacking reality of a globalized world in which health institutions prioritize ‘customers' with deep pockets, instead of being places of heal, turned towards to the well-being of their patients.
Following the attempts of Olivia to find a job that would secure her a much needed money for her daughter's hospital treatment, the plot slowly wanders into the Liboro house where she gets a job as a call centre agent, not without fiercely putting her foot in the door at the risk of being reported for applying for the position reserved for students only. The oldest in the company team, she is at firstly mistaken as one of the peers, and then looked at as some kind of exotic zoo animal, before the words about her daughter's condition spreads. Young charismatic trainer Lance (JC Santos) is pushing Olivia's way to an actual contract, only to be revealed as a sexual predator, rotten to the core.
Liboro house has a history nobody is aware of, not even Karen, the daughter of its owner and the founder of the clinic Dr. Jaime Liboro. The buildig used to be a settlement for survivors of the WW ll, and bought by Liboro in the 1970's, it was turned into one of the best hospitals in Manila, until a tragic chain of events took place. And when really bad things start happening, nobody has a clue except Olivia, who has to make the most difficult choice of her life. It's not pretty, just the most logical thing she can do. The spoiler – the elevator sometimes gets stuck at floors ‘under renovation' where an evil spirit lurks for a chance to get out.
Carlo Ledesma is not kind with our emotions, but he is cynical enough to know that reason wining over heart is the only way out of hell, eve if it's of the most personal, heart-breaking nature.
“Sunod” is one of the most interesting genre films from 2019.
