Right at the beginning, “Silong”, the new romantic-thriller distributed by Star Cinema, is already throwing cryptic clues, building up the structure of its narrative in a lazy but engaging progression.
Helmed by singer-turned-director Jeffrey Hidalgo and actor/writer/director Roy Sevilla, this Piolo Pascual/Rhian Ramos starrer is a refreshing take of the genre, triumphant in breaking through the the barriers of the category’s overly-familiar confinement.
Hidalgo and Sevillia’s brilliant maneuver of the proceedings gives way to a slow but suspicious build-up, drawing us to early hunches that keep getting replaced by new ones as new puzzle pieces enter the blunt picture. The narrative is seemingly devised to lull us to security, pushing us to paint a conclusive picture in our consciousness, that might be a far cry from what is set to unfold.
In such way, the film manages to pull off a thief-in-the-night undertaking, flogging its audience with a sense-juddering whip when everyone is least suspecting.
That very same trajectory makes Pascual and Ramos’ characters even more intriguing, adding darker colors to their already mysterious personalities.
Piolo Pascual as the solitary doctor, Miguel, is charmingly languorous, his grief over his wife’s death held back with his cryptic masculine poise. The arrival of Rhian Ramos’s Valerie provides a welcome shift in Miguel’s attention, one Miguel would willingly embrace. The turn of events establishes an impending romantic bond between Miguel and Valerie, even leading to a sensual encounter between the two on top of a dining table.
But all these is just a distraction, as the film actually works under the veil of its lazy proceedings, to gather further strength for its final wallop that will surely hit its spectators with mind-bending shock.
“Silong” can not be dismissed as just another entry to the less explored romance-thriller genre. There is an evident effort to shake its set-up (one that has taken a form that bears little difference from its contemporary genre) which is bold enough for it to deserve attention.
There’s a cryptic message that actually resides under the film’s very title.
“Silong” harbors secrets that are kept under its roof for some reason, scars that you may never see unless you scrutinize more carefully. I should warn you to never dare look for them, but this film is so irresistibly good to not recommend. So when you get into the theater, be ready.
RATING: 7/10 (JE)
