'Posas' is riveting, not heavy-handed at all.
Don’t be scared of “Posas” (“Shackled”). It’s not the heavy-handed dramatic crime thriller that the movie’s title and trailer promise.
Sure, it’s an unblinking look at corruption in the police force. But it’s surprisingly unsensationalistic. And quite entertaining.
No mean feat this, considering that the movie is practically a procedural, a step-by-step documentation of how a petty criminal (a phone thief in Quiapo) does his thing, gets caught, goes to jail, gets tortured, goes to the fiscal’s office, goes back to jail, and then goes back out on the streets — still a petty thief but already a business partner of the police — all within the span of 24 breathless hours.
Director Lawrence Fajardo captures all these without editorializing and it serves the material very well. It gives the movie real heat and friction. The torture scene and the final initiation scene are powerful for their starkness, chilliness, and precision.
The same can be said of the performances of everyone in the cast. “Posas” isn’t shackling. It’s riveting.
Annicka Dolonius is incandescent in 'Ang Nawawala'.
There is much to love in “Ang Nawawala” (“What Isn’t There”) — its sumptuous all-OPM soundtrack, its gorgeous retro-fitted look, and the bright, delicious, wonderful performances of the entire cast, most notably the pitch-perfect portrayal of the incandescent Annicka Dolonius.
She plays the role of Enid, a very contemporary, very in-the-moment girl who seduces 20-year-old Gibson (a soulful Dominic Rocco), a guy who withdrew from the world and stopped talking after the accidental death of his twin brother when they were 10 for which he blames himself, out of his shell only to break his heart.
The movie, confidently written and directed with wit, verve, and sophistication by music video veteran Marie Jamora, has been called a coming-of-age film.
It’s really more of a coming-to-terms movie about someone who finally learns to forgive himself after learning to forgive somebody else, and thereby setting himself free from the prison of grief he imposed on himself over a sin he did not commit in the first place.
Heart, soul, humor, and wall-to-wall Pinoy rock and roll music — it’s all here in “Ang Nawawala”.
(“Posas” is now showing at Trinoma, SM Megamall and SM North Edsa.)
