By any objective metric. Banal isn't exactly the best of films. It's your usual teen horror movie about a group of teens doing really stupid things in a sacred mountain, with one teen in particular embracing the sunken cost fallacy wholesale. The acting leaves much to be desired, with probably only Bianca Umali turning in a decent performance.
With all that said, Banal is relatively enjoyable in a sense, mainly because of two things. First, it consistently delivers an atmosphere of horror without depending too much on cliched horror tropes. Second, like in any horror movie where loads of stupid characters die off, there's a certain amount of catharsis seeing them kick the bucket in creative ways. That "earwax" scene is worth the price of admission in this reviewer's honest opinion.
There's a tacked on message at the end about the social responsibility we all have in taking care of natural resources, but the real meat of Banal is its depiction of western society and Catholicism versus indigenous culture and paganism, drawn in clearly gendered lines. It takes a traditional approach to that depiction, but I think it's still worth looking into why exactly that is the case.
Banal will undoubtedly turn a lot of people off, but for what it's worth, its the local horror film I've enjoyed the most since 2019 began.
A tip for everyone planning to watch Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;Surrection: this film is a sequel to the three part film series that reimagines the original anime TV series. People who go into the movie who have only watched the TV series (like myself) will be confused as to the fate of certain characters.
The film follows the ending of Code Geass (which is basically the same in both the movie and TV versions). The peace created by the events of the finale has reverberated around the world. However, the Kingdom of Zilkhistan, who profited from the endless war isn't having any of it, and decides to kidnap two of its top officials.
The film is pure fanservice, containing all of the things people loved about the original TV show: mecha action, high stakes chess matches, witty strategies from our titular character, overall weirdness and lots of lore. Sadly, there is not a single Pizza Hut in sight.
I'm not sure non-fans will see this as anything other than an incoherent mess, but for fans of the series, this is a definite recommendation.
Speaking of incoherent messes, yipes. This film. I desperately wanted to like Finding You, and the fact that disappointing is the most flattering thing I can say about it makes that feeling even worse.
Nel (Jerome Ponce) has hyperthymesia, a sort of super autobiographical memory where he can perfectly recall every moment he's ever lived. However, when he finds mysterious messages posted in the past on his social media account that he cannot recall, this creates a mystery that is too tantalizing to ignore. Conceptually, the irony in having a man who does not forget dealing with repressed (?) memories is intriguing. Unfortunately, this does not pan out.
The film's timeline flits from past to present, but this is not adequately covered by the film's editing. The whole affair is mostly confusing. Nel tries to confront his previous lovers in the hope that they could shed light on his mystery, and that only serves to lampshade the fact that he is an unlikeable character, reflecting the worst aspects of hugot culture. He pines over what is clearly an impossible choice and deals with the situation like a spoiled child. His condition is used as a gimmick more than anything else, and later scenes in the film play fast and loose with reality - a particular scene using electroconvulsive therapy is completely science fiction, and is used solely for dramatic effect.
There's a tacked on message at the end about the social responsibility we all have in taking care of natural resources, but the real meat of Banal is its depiction of western society and Catholicism versus indigenous culture and paganism, drawn in clearly gendered lines. It takes a traditional approach to that depiction, but I think it's still worth looking into why exactly that is the case.
Banal will undoubtedly turn a lot of people off, but for what it's worth, its the local horror film I've enjoyed the most since 2019 began.
The film follows the ending of Code Geass (which is basically the same in both the movie and TV versions). The peace created by the events of the finale has reverberated around the world. However, the Kingdom of Zilkhistan, who profited from the endless war isn't having any of it, and decides to kidnap two of its top officials.
The film is pure fanservice, containing all of the things people loved about the original TV show: mecha action, high stakes chess matches, witty strategies from our titular character, overall weirdness and lots of lore. Sadly, there is not a single Pizza Hut in sight.
I'm not sure non-fans will see this as anything other than an incoherent mess, but for fans of the series, this is a definite recommendation.
Nel (Jerome Ponce) has hyperthymesia, a sort of super autobiographical memory where he can perfectly recall every moment he's ever lived. However, when he finds mysterious messages posted in the past on his social media account that he cannot recall, this creates a mystery that is too tantalizing to ignore. Conceptually, the irony in having a man who does not forget dealing with repressed (?) memories is intriguing. Unfortunately, this does not pan out.
The film's timeline flits from past to present, but this is not adequately covered by the film's editing. The whole affair is mostly confusing. Nel tries to confront his previous lovers in the hope that they could shed light on his mystery, and that only serves to lampshade the fact that he is an unlikeable character, reflecting the worst aspects of hugot culture. He pines over what is clearly an impossible choice and deals with the situation like a spoiled child. His condition is used as a gimmick more than anything else, and later scenes in the film play fast and loose with reality - a particular scene using electroconvulsive therapy is completely science fiction, and is used solely for dramatic effect.
Finding You is confusing, headlined by a completely unlikeable main character, and the worst part is that there is a far better recent local film out there about memories and hugot culture: Nakalimutan Ko Nang Kalimutan Ka.
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