Sinag Maynila 2026 entry ‘Ang Bangkay’ shows the horrors of humanity

Mar 26

Sinag Maynila 2026 entry ‘Ang Bangkay’ shows the horrors of humanity

Chadson Redondo March 26, 2026, 1:00 PM

Atty. Vincent Tañada makes his Sinag Maynila Independent Film Festival debut this year with ‘Ang Bangkay,’ a film adaptation of his 2012 Palanca-winning full-length play of the same name. The writer-director who also stars in the film, says that it was his response to everyone who told him that he’ll only be a “legitimate writer” if he won the coveted award.

The play shocked the jury and audiences with its profanity and dark themes — now, after more than a decade, it makes a comeback albeit on the big screen. It wasn’t supposed to have a commercial release and was just a shot in the dark submission to the film festival. The period film follows the Corintho family who owns a funeral business and the problems that will ensue with the death of their matriarch.

One can see the film’s theatrical roots in that it’s riddled with histrionic acting and kilometric lines. Tañada wasn’t even going to star in the film, but the supposed lead had a hard time with the script. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case for him and his co-stars. “Even before knowing her personally, I didn’t see anyone else playing Miding,” Tañada says about Mercedes Cabral, who accepted the role upon being captivated by the story. It’s not new territory for the actress who is known for her involvement in movies that tackle the ugly side of humanity. What’s new to her is collaborating with theater actors like Johnrey Rivas and Vean Olmedo, where she shared that it was a nice kind of different having rehearsals prior to the shoot.

One thing you’ll notice in the trailer is how different the film looks compared to Tañada’s previous endeavors. It is reminiscent of ‘Karnal’ and ‘Inagaw Mo Ang Lahat Sa Akin,’ wherein the basic social unit of the family is reflective of the Philippines and its predicaments. “I was looking at our country’s usual criminal cases in the past which included grave threat and defamation,” Tañada explains when asked about the work’s conception.

The initial cut of ‘Ang Bangkay’ was around 2 hours and 30 minutes but Tañada had to cut it to an hour and a half for the Cannes Film Market. The film’s R-18 rating is mostly due to the nudity, where there is a “tasteful” 6-second genitalia exposure. No plastering was done due to the time constraints of the production, where they only had 4 days to shoot. Tañada says, “There was no Eddie Garcia Law yet, and we were all so used to the grind of theater rehearsals that we didn’t really mind maximizing the time for shooting.”