APAG 2023 — What would you do if you’re driven of fear? Warning: major spoilers ahead!
The Metro Manila Film Festival entry directed by Brillante Medoza starred by Coco Martin, Lito Lapid, and Gladys Reyes follows the story of a wealthy family, the Tuazons, trying to escape the fact that they were suspects of a horrible accident, hitting a tricycle that lead to a horrible death.
I honestly didn’t expect the vibe of this movie as it wasn’t the typical “I will seek revenge” type of crime story like how the outstanding Jodi Sta. Maria screams at the sky, “Matitikman ninyo ang batas ng isang api!” But this movie gave me a different vibe — probably of how the story would’ve been if the perpetuator actually accepts their wrongs and takes full responsibility of the harm done.
The story perfectly portrayed Kapampangans in Pampanga as the language of the film was purely in the Kapampangan dialect with only a few lines of Tagalog. The culture has also been shown very good.
The feeling of this movie allowed such unpredictability that you would be eager to know what happens if you were in this type of situation wherein you didn’t mean to do such a horrible thing. The movie fully described the feeling of both parties: the victim and the suspect – of how each emotion was portrayed.
The idea of trauma is very easy to explain, however portraying it is hard. That is what the movie sucessfully laid out — the undying haunt of guilt no matter what the present shows.
The story also shown the importance of relationships within the family ad that it is the foundation that no one can ever take away from someone — it is the home that you will run to in all circumstances.
With this, this shows how justice could be served.
However, at the start of the movie it has entailed emotions that would’ve given the message to be honest at all times, the movie could’ve portrayed to what could be closer to reality. In a world that we live in today wouldn’t easily plea as guilty and take the blame for someone or a victim would easily forgive the suspect— the story could’ve made a deeper presentation of what the justice system of today’s society look like.
But that’s what I thought at first.
The story was driven again to another angle which lead us to the plot twist at the end of the movie. It was something that the real world setting would’ve done – a projection of the Jodi Sta. Maria screaming at the clouds into a Gladys Reyes cooking for the Tuazons.
I saw it coming and actually hoped for it to happen to add more spice and more deep and realistic situations into the movie.
Indeed, justice was literally served.
