NathanielReview

Maganda naman sya (technically). It is well-made, well-acted, well-written and very poetic. If may rule book for winning awards they followed it religiously.

But its not for me. It's a movie I'll likely forget after watching another 20 films. 390 worthy? Not sure, pra pwede ko na syang antayin sa netflix tuwing semana santa.

Ending felt rushed- after that conclusion scene, all the deep-rooted systemic problems seemed to disappear without proper resolution. The villains were taken out too conveniently, without meaningful encounters, domingo's built-up resentment toward Ruth's father felt wasted.

A Seriously good local horror-drama in a long time, since mainstream bombarded us with trashy comedy robed as horror movies. Mikhail Red took the overused subculture stories of restroom suicide deaths into a smooth yet knotted mystery.

The film quickly builds up great anticipation, an uneasy atmosphere that wails unsettling imagery, all in just the first few gasps of its viewers inside the cinema. The bleak cinematic tonality of the sequences, in combination with James Wan-inspired visual language, works well in setting-up tension.

Red refinedly pulls off good suspense in some events, where notable music score reaches its disturbing peaks. As the mystery untangles, this suspenseful style became monotonous and formulaic for the whole movie. As good as it gets, those repetitions were contradicted by its fast-paced sequence of events - this fueled its smooth narrative and effective character building.

In the midst of the tension, the storyline introduces a contrast between conventional faith and modern approach to mental health. Subtly portrayed that the society even religion contributes to this looming, unresolved complication.

The narrative progression was presented intelligently with its balanced twists-concealment except for its conclusion where it became too spoon-feeding. Nonetheless, the ending relieved the film with its refreshing and fulfilling finale.

A whimsical childlike lucid dream felt by its equivalently colorful reality. Irene Villamor's masterpiece played with Philippine mythologies that surrounds the concept of "Ulan" dressed as childhood fantasy while unfolding a present timeline of its protagonist's tragic yet joyful conquest of finding true love.

In the film, Nadine's innocent idea of love is nurtured by her childhood beliefs on mythology and used it as a fuel for her enduring pursuit of happiness and contentment. It was presented in seamless jumps between nostalgia and the existing ordeal of repeating failed relationships.

It's raw and stylish production design danced well with its cinematography and music of presenting visually stunning sequences.

As the narrative progresses, Nadine's reminiscence is getting more surreal and intense, while the present arc is moving forward with realism and optimism - the space between the two timelines are getting larger but still linked and romantically fulfilling.

In her greatest ordeal, after various ballads and fairy tale-like romantic beliefs, the film showered the story with a striking and relatable authenticity and still manages to reach the peak of its established feel-good drama - that transformed rainfall occurrences into something to be celebrated and savor with delight.

One of the best local films of 2019 so far