Triptiko (Triptych) refers to any work divided into three parts. This film's three parts are composed of stories that are quite strange, in some cases even creepy and terrifying. While the three parts of Triptiko offer varying levels of quality, the three stories together struggle to form a thematic whole. To be fair, each story has something really good going for it, or features a fantastic performance from one or more of the actors involved.
The first story, Swerte, is my favorite of the bunch. It focuses on a series of unfortunate events befalling Jake (Albie Casino) as he gets into a very unlucky situation. The tension in this segment ramps up continuously from start to finish. The standout performance in the entire film belongs to Jerald Napoles. Known for playing lighthearted or comedic roles, Napoles shows in this segment that he can be menacing and crazy too.
The second story, Hinog, feels like a cross between an episode of Shake Rattle and Roll and The Twilight Zone. It has elements of body horror as well, which for a contemporary local movie is quite a novelty. Joseph Marco was pretty good here in my opinion. In this case, the story resolves itself too quickly for my taste, the film spending too much time building up the main dilemma, then spending only a short flashback scene and a few lines of dialogue to wrap up and resolve the plot.
The last story, Musikerong John, is very different in tone compared to the previous two segments. While the previous two segments are similar in tone and even share characters, this story can be regarded as standalone. While I draw positive comparisons to this film and the Michel Gondry short film Interior Design (where Ayako Fujitani turns into a chair), the end product feels lacking, the story trailing off in unsatisfying ways. Kean Cipriano and Kylie Padilla were both great in this segment, but the material just wasn't enough for the both of them.
Triptiko's stories can be fun at times, and there are elements in all three stories that I like, but ultimately the film is a giant mixed bag. Your mileage may vary in this case.
***
Accompanying Triptiko is the short film Fat You, about an overweight girl coming to terms with her self-image. There's a 1st person point of view sequence at the start that I particularly like (and could be expanded into a short film of its own) but it decides to veer into more conventional storytelling territory.
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