Sid Lucero – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: It has been a long time since a zombie attack.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that they are preparing for an apocalypse.

Vampire Owl: There can be no zombie apocalypse in the undead world.

Vampire Bat: You feel that vampires cannot turn into zombies.

Vampire Owl: Yes, the undead are already transformed around here.

Vampire Bat: Not even when a zombie bites a vampire?

Vampire Owl: Well, vampires would bite them first and they would still remain zombies.

Vampire Bat: Becoming a vampire is an upgrade which they cannot have.

Vampire Owl: You mean vampires can go into base zombie forms instead.

Vampire Bat: Yes, it might be a first, but surely possible.

[Gets a chicken cutlet and three cups of Wayanad tea].

What is the movie about? :: Francis (Sid Lucero), his wife Iris (Beauty Gonzalez), and two sons Joshua (Marco Masa) and Lucas (Aiden Tyler Patdu) are trying to survive during a zombie outbreak which plagued their city. They run away to an old, abandoned plantation and farm house owned by Francis’ father, hoping for safety. Even though he finds his father dead by suicide before infection, her mother comes to him as a zombie, and he is forced to kill her. They decide to stay there for now, as the zombie infestation seems to have affected the area only in a lesser way. It is a world where there is no electricity or mobile phone signal. Iris feels that they should travel further north it was supposed to be safer there. Even though Joshua also feels that the northern side is safer, Francis feels that he should remain at his ancestral home to be safe, despite having terrible memories about the place from his past. With some difficulty, Iris manages to convince Francis that it is the best to move forward as the place was already attacked by zombies.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Francis is bothered by his memories of the troubled past during the childhood and the fact that Iris had cheated him with his brother and the elder son was born of the brother. But they have been forgetting that past and moving on. They go back to the plantation and decides to spend they remaining days there as there is just enough for them to live through the days in peace. Francise also manages to find some fuel to keep the electricity running. It is then that Francis’ brother Diego (James Blanco) comes home while travelling towards north. But Francis asks him to leave, as he feels that it would be a strain for him and his relationship with the family. Diego is hopeful of a better future in the north and leaves a map with Francis, who decides to burn it instead. Joshua is more irritated with the actions of his father, and hopes that he could leave. It is then that an injured soldier reaches the farm – what would this mean to all of them and how will it change the situation?

The defence of Outside :: This is surely not your usual zombie outbreak movie even though it is the same in the background. There are lots of thing happening in this movie, and a zombie apocalypse is just one of them, while emotions run strong on the front. The scary side takes the secondary role as the human feelings make an impact. We see a family, especially two parents trying to make it happen for their children and keep them alive. The choices that they make finally lead to that end which remains uncertain, and as we go through this journey with them, we feel as much we understand the danger that surrounds them. Even with focus on emotions, the world past the apocalypse is well-detailed and we see enough zombies for it to stay close to the genre. There has always been something about family in trouble during an apocalypse with monsters around, like in A Quiet Place and its worthy sequel. This is the kind of situation where the viewers can place themselves, and the fear about zombies not just of the appearance, but of their existence as creatures that had an identity to remember, and one will know that tragedy when they encounter them in this movie.

The claws of flaw :: The movie could have used a little more of its zombies to create an effect, that of the prevailing danger, which is often lost in the emotional problems that occur in between. As much as the human feelings that work, the realization that this is a movie on zombie outbreak needs to have us moving forward. There will always be something else that is expected of a zombie movie, close to the infections and far away from the human interaction. You know that you are looking for less dialogues and more action whenever there is an apocalyptic event. You can have all the dialogues later when you are ready to rebuild and are doing the same. There could have also been more interesting characters, except for those who are there for a short period of time. The night and darkness could have also been used more. Some classic horror with the usual elements would have also done this movie better.

The performers of the soul :: The movie is indeed blessed with some fine performance, added nicely with emotions running above an apocalypse, as horror makes way for the feelings efficiently due to these performances. You do not usually see the emotions displayed this well when there is horror taking the base and keep the tale of a terrifying world going in the background. Sid Lucero as Francis steals the show in one of the most emotional performances that you will see around, playing a man troubled by his long gone past as much as his immediate past, living in a confusing past and uncertain future. This is that kind of a world for him where even hope is uncertain. Beauty Gonzalez who plays the only female character to be seen as human in the movie does not lag either, as we get to see a memorable performance instead of the usual running around by heroines that leads to a predictable end. Then, it is to be noted that the kids also do so well within the movie, and their work is surely a reflection of bigger things to come. We do not really know these performers, but we are immersed in their work, as we are provided a realistic side with the same in an unreal, but highly possible world as it has been depicted.

How it finishes :: This is the first Filipino movie review on this website, and after twelve years of its existence, here is one, and the right movie indeed to be reviewed as the first one. There have been some south-east Asian film reviews from Indonesian, Vietnamese and Thai to Chinese and Korean – this one gets to that list as the thirty-first language movie around here. It is great to have a post-apocalyptic movie for the purpose, just like my first novel, and this is a version of zombie apocalypse that I enjoyed. I would have loved to have more horror here, but there is still enough to be taken from this world. This is a slow, but effective journey through a world affected by flesh-eaters. This will not be your Train to Busan, Resident Evil or Warm Bodies with its zombies, but something different, and even in an undead world, as close to reality as it can get. You expect a zombie apocalypse, and you expect this one – you can also go for my novel, Wrath of the Future which is available on Amazon which has enough of end of the world scenarios with similar creatures.

Release date: 17th October 2024 (Netflix)
Running time: 142 minutes
Directed by: Carlo Ledesma
Starring: Sid Lucero, Beauty Gonzalez, Marco Masa, Aiden Tyler Patdu, Joel Torre, James Blanco, Enchong Dee, Bing Pimentel