Sunod

The story is interesting, but it was very poorly executed. Monotonous supernatural thriller, no scares, almost a drama, loose-ended resolution ...

A young mother with a critically ill teenage daughter takes a job at a call center to pay for the mounting hospital bills. Little would she know that she and her whole world would turn upside down in this dark sinister tale of tragedy and evil. Shot in dark tones and moving at a glacial pace the movie succeeds in conjuring an eerie and ominous atmosphere with the good directing and acting complimented by a pretty imaginative and realistic script not to mention solid cinematography and special effects. Carmina Villaroel delivers in the lead role as the worried and harrassed mother and her aging like fine wine has made her quite the eye candy for some time now. Aside from a few slow spots and head-scratching scenes the film is a good view from start to finish. A fine example on how far Philippine cinema has come particularly in the Horror genre, "Sunod" is one scare treat that any Horror fan should appreciate.

One of the most disappointing Filipino horror film not because it was not a good film but because it has a huge potential with its cinematography and public material design but failed to carry out the production and the story itself. It undeniably shows in the execution of the plot, the direction and specifically the SOUND DESIGN. I would like to put emphasis on the sound design as they used very common sfx and even bg music (I'll leave the rest of the critic to the viewers) .The film failed to follow a lot of plot approach that should successfully retain the audience's interest to the story. There are too many concepts that they wanted to portray for the characters that it led into a very messy flow and that it was hard to blend all the aspects to make an ethical resolution. Overall there was a potential to it, it was excellent in its editing and in so many aspect but the most important part of a film should be its plot and the instruments of the plot which are the characters.

Cinematography wise, it really gives the Outlast 1 vibes. Specially in the climax where they went back to the place the story began. Story wise it's bland, and predictable.

Watching this felt like riding a roller coaster; if the roller coaster was slow and goes in a straight line, upside down, the entire time. I appreciate the filmmakers for trying to incorporate some history and culture but it doesn't make the story line any better. It has potential, but the lore feels incomplete, the ending feels incomplete. The inclusion of the main character Olivia's artsy recurring nightmare scenes is a highlight. Additionally, the cinematography occasionally succeeds in capturing the urban charm of the Philippines.

I guess the scariest thing about this film is the hospital bills.