Set on the cusp of the EDSA Revolution, Oras De Peligro follows a family as they deal with personal tragedy. Beatriz (Cherry Pie Picache) learns that her jeepney driver husband Dario (Allen Dizon) has been killed after a botched robbery. A number of corrupt cops pin the blame on Dario and forbid the family from taking the body home.
Joel Lamangan's strengths, in my mind, have always been in theater and in acting - not in directing for film. However, perhaps spurred by current events (in the context of his late 2010s-early 2020s work, this is Lamangan at his most indignant) Oras de Peligro plays to his strengths. The result is still admittedly a mixed bag, but is a lot better than other recent films of his that seem too complacent. The story itself feels a bit didactic or stagey at some points (and the climax stretches disbelief a little too much) though I chalk that up to Lamangan's theater background working this time to the film's detriment.
The film also segues into other side stories regarding other people related to Dario - all taking place in the background of EDSA, with each character's story depicting the various situations Filipinos faced during the Marcos regime (and even now), from farmers in the province to labor unions to middle class liberals. It is reminiscent of Jang Joon-hwan's 1987: When the Day Comes (2017), a film also about a democratic revolution whose nebulous, protean structure lacks a central protagonist as well. Both films capture the heady energy of a revolution slowly but surely taking shape. Lamangan takes care not to fictionalize or distort the actual events of the revolution, opting to show news clips and video from the actual event - the events of the movie acting as a sort of filmic metaphor to show how political indifference does not shield one from being a victim of an unjust system, or how standing up for what is right for everyone is the morally correct solution.
This is, in my view, Lamangan's way of paying respect to history, a rebuttal to filmmakers who, given the many ways art and commerce clash, abandon their integrity and principles for money. The film represents a partial solution - granted, there are a lot more systemic problems at play today (some even stemming from the aftermath of this revolution and its lapses in seeking accountability from the people involved) though no single work of art can affect political change, if at all. The true "revolution" starts elsewhere, and from the ground up: in our schools, in our homes, in our conversations with other people, in how we view history and truth in a society where it's getting hard to parse it from falsehood.
The main conceit of Roderick Lindayag's Kunwari... Mahal Kita really only kicks into gear in the final 30 minutes of the film. In the meantime, we are treated to an extended meet cute between Greg (Joseph Marco) and hotel worker Hayds (Ryza Cenon). See, Greg's currently separated from his wife Cindy (Nathalie Hart), who rejects him because of a clash in personalities and life goals. Cindy can't find what she wants in Greg, and she tries to flirt with other people. Despondent, Greg retreats to his cousin's resort in Bolinao, where he meets Hayds. The two seem to click immediately, but there's some hesitation on Greg's part since he's still technically married to his wife and he still holds some lingering feelings towards her.
I can forgive a certain level of meet cute in romantic films like this, though in this particular case it does so to the detriment of everything else - and the meet cute isn't that well done either. There is a lack of flow from one scene to the other, and while the film bumbles its way to make us invest in the two characters, it's not enough to offset the tonal shift that happens in the last third. There's still some fun to be had, to be fair: Nathalie Hart makes a nice villain once she enters into the picture, but Greg and Cindy's relationship feels tentative and sadly not one worth rooting for.
What's even more unfortunate is the fact that the film deals with its conflicts almost as an afterthought, relying on a time skip to magically resolve all of the problems established during the course of the film. Perhaps instead of having scenes that have little to no impact on the rest of the film (such as a scene in a beach at night that basically exists for the characters to ask each other why the hell they are there) they could concentrate more on having the audience invest in its characters.
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