A young couple who moves into their new home gives hope to a neighbour, possesed by a mythical winged creature, to get rid of her curse. In Gabriela Serrano's silent horror short loosely based on the classic “And Manananggal” (1927) by Jose Nepomuceno, Filipino mythology is used to express the feeling of helplessness and isolation during the times marked by Covid-19. In her interpretation of our new reality, Serrano paints loneliness as a nasty germ that invades the body and splits it in two halves. One way to get rid of it is to find a new shell, the one that is already consumed by another life.
Dikit is screening at Singapore International Film Festival
The director, who co-write the script with her sister Mariana, doesn't address the pandemic at any point, and the images used to describe the uncanny are full of symbolism surrounding one's inner plights. The feminist gaze changes the image of the mythical being. Manananggal gets de-demonized not only through her vulnerable side – the deep sadness about the bad gash below the waistline, and clipped wings, but also through her bonding with another woman that comes from contempt for her partner.
The unlikely connecting is established through a series of parallel running scenes on the split screen. We observe the images filled with dread of both women who go through their personal dramas, one as the haunted hunter and the other as a victim.
It's a film of impressive visual beauty (from gentle pastel tones to the neon-lit, heavily contoured bodies) and strong performances by the two leads, one of them being the director herself (Manananggal) and the other the young aspiring actress Mika Zarcal who, like Serrano, is the alumni of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.
Stylish through the emphasis on the frame (or rather ‘frames') and the captivating images shot by Aaron Marasigan and Justin Orcullo, “Dikit” is a short horror of great elegance.
“Dikit” was named one of CNN Philippines Life's Best Filipino Films of 2021, and it has previously won the Awards for Best Film and Best Director at the International Silent Film Festival in Manila.
