ALL FILM REVIEWS
‘CineSilip 2025’ BITE-SIZED REVIEWS: Big Screen, Bold Desires
CineSilip’s inaugural run celebrates a new wave of Filipino filmmakers unafraid to probe desire, morality, and eroticism in seven genre-spanning films that dare to challenge and provoke.
‘Cinemartyrs’ REVIEW: Experiencing memories of a forgotten war
‘Cinemartyrs’ does not merely revisit the past but lets it breathe again, to tremble and to speak, through image and sound.
‘The Ride’ REVIEW: A trip that goes nowhere
‘The Ride’ is a wasted chance at a crime drama that could have simmered with tension, melancholy, and heart. At just over an hour, it has the speed of a getaway car, but none of the gravity to make the journey matter.
‘Magellan’ REVIEW: A Lav Diaz anti-epic, anti-biopic
Despite concessions to foreign producers, 'Magellan' remains unapologetically a Lav Diaz film, uncompromising in its gaze and staggering in its scope.
‘Posthouse’ REVIEW: Death by cold open
‘Posthouse’ is not interested in horror as a subconscious experience, but as something spelled out, explained, and flattened — every terror announced, leaving nothing to linger, haunt, and truly unsettle.
‘Ne Zha 2’ REVIEW: The perfect sequel
‘Ne Zha 2’ is the rare and perfect sequel that doesn’t just build on its predecessor but transcends it, solidifying China’s place as a new powerhouse in animation.
‘Broken Rage’ REVIEW: Takeshi Kitano's tragicomic take on his legacy
‘Broken Rage’ carries the weight of an artist confronting his own legacy, grappling with the realization that, despite a lifetime of reinvention, perception is, more often than not, unshakable.
‘Cloud’ REVIEW: In the Name of Capital, I Will Destroy You
Kiyoshi Kurosawa creates a genre-bender, deftly blending elements of paranoia thriller, psychological horror, shoot ‘em up, and a surprising touch of dark comedy, creating something wholly unique when genre films have become predictable.
‘Outside’ REVIEW: Shambling Without a Pulse
‘Outside’ tries to carve out its own path, but in doing so, it loses touch with what makes the zombie genre resonate in the first place — primal survival and raw human emotions in collision with a world of viscera and chaos.
‘Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In’ REVIEW: More Than a Wuxia Spectacle
'Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In' captivates with its unabashed embrace of the fantastical myth-making and whimsical absurdities of a wuxia set in contemporary times.
‘La Llegada’ REVIEW: A Double-Edged Immigrant Horror Story
'La Llegada' is a demanding watch due to its minimalist stylistic choices, which may alienate viewers, as the film’s commitment to realism and intimacy sometimes overshadows any cinematic flourishes.
‘Iskalawags’ REVIEW: Rebel With a Cause
Keith Deligero instills ‘Iskalawags’ with an unfiltered, sometimes vulgar, and humorous energy that remains playful and fun — an endearing quality that makes the film so charming and earnest
‘Ang Panday’ REVIEW: The Faces of FPJ
Ang Panday’ is perhaps the best example that shows how little distinction there is between FPJ’s on-screen hero, who embodies humility, justice, and selflessness, and his off-screen persona, which made him a beloved figure of Philippine cinema.
‘Borderless Fog’ REVIEW: An Enduring Mystery That Calls for a Closer Look
Indonesian filmmaker Edwin concocts an atmospheric and absorbing crime thriller that invites us to investigate the bewildering and grisly details beyond the machinations of the plot.
‘Gulay Lang, Manong!’ REVIEW: I Love Farmers, Even if Everybody Else Doesn’t
‘Gulay Lang, Manong!’ ensures a chill and fun time at the cinema while also inviting us to inquire into the challenges that our farmers face.
‘Fuchsia Libre’ REVIEW: Sometimes, Genres Mix Like Water and Oil
Fuchsia Libre’s pursuit of telling a supposedly simple tale of wrestling and reconciliations wraps up in disparate styles and inconsistent tones, giving birth to a genre-hybrid abomination that is utterly confused on what it intends to accomplish.
‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ REVIEW: Planting the Seeds of Hope
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga forges a new path for itself, shedding the relentless pace of Fury Road for a more intimate and soulful symphony of vengeance that elevates the emotional gravity of its predecessor.
'Anino sa Likod ng Buwan' REVIEW: Tragedy in the Valley
The dialogue-heavy, one-take film, ‘Anino Sa Likod Ng Buwan,’ is a marvel of calculated narrative and technical claustrophobia that will leave you gasping for breath with each frame and grab you by the neck with its unexpected twists and turns.
‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ REVIEW: What Is A Man To A God And A King?
‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ knows exactly what it wants to be: a maximalist monster affair that puts its biggest stars (literally) front and center of a vibrant and epic kaijū fisticuffs.
‘A Glimpse of Forever’ REVIEW: Failing in Sensitivity
A Glimpse of Forever is problematic not because it abandons romance to convey a message about men’s mental health, but because of how it approaches its subject matter with so much insensitivity and ignorance.

