Angustia (Anguish) is a period film that tackles sin and redemption set in the early days of the Colonial Philippines. Alex Medina plays a young priest living in a small town deep in the province. He encounters an Agta (Michelle Smith) in the jungle who has been watching him and, thanks to a fortuitous sequence of events, has her live in his parish as a convert.
Angustia swims in symbolism from beginning to end; juxtaposing symbols of Christian faith with pagan rituals and symbolism. Although faith seems to abound in the picture, a divine presence at first seems absent in the face of the sins committed by some of the characters. The members of the clergy are supposed to be representative of the church, but here they are portrayed as only human, vulnerable and susceptible to the follies that all people face. The characters of Angustia seem to seek catharsis through divine intervention, but either do not find the salvation they seek, or attain it by their own efforts and experiences.
The film takes advantage of very lush visuals (although in some scenes there is a noticeable drop in video quality that I attribute to an equipment issue than anything else) and a sparse soundtrack.
Anguish itself manifests in the weaker second half, where the story shifts Medina's character to another place. The focus of the story is lost, and personally it would have been better if Medina had stayed where he was instead of moving somewhere else. (That would have created a small plothole character-wise but it could have been remedied). Sin catches up with the priest and redemption - either paid through death or sacrifice - is attained. Whether this is a personal kind of redemption or one that is connected with the divine is up to the viewer.
All in all Angustia is an uneven film that would have worked better had it focused more on its effective first act rather than a vaguely psychological horror-like second act.
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