“And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. So it is not strange that his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” (2 Corinthians 11: 14-15)
Erik Matti’s ‘Seklusyon’ is a film that attempts to examine and present a probable scenario within a Church particularly the soon-to-be the ‘Servants of God’. Based on an old ritual where deacons or aspiring priests are sent to ‘seclusion’ to test their faith, the film revolves around four characters portrayed by Ronnie Alonte, Dominic Roque, John Vic De Guzman and JR Versales.
Each of the characters portrayed by these male young actors as aspiring ministers of the Catholic Church has their respective ‘secrets’ that would ‘rock’ what they have dedicated and invested in order to be full-fledged priests.
A Brave Act to Begin With.
As opposed to other film entries in the current Metro Manila Film Festival, this is one of the two films that are brave enough to cast actors that are less known or have not yet proven their box-office powers. But one thing for sure that this film is likely to appeal to moviegoers this Christmas season is the story. This one could very well replace the horror category that has long been dominated by the many ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ series of films by Regal back then.
As a duo—Erik Matti and Dondon Monteverde of Reality Entertainment, there is no doubt that they put premium on the materials they produced. Having these budding but really promising actors-in-the-making is already a successful venture.
Choosing Alonte to portray the lead role as Miguel is a testament that this young guy from the Hashtags fame can truly act. Given more opportunities to star in films and be handled by great directors—his brilliance will show its luster as a star in not-so-distant future.
Even the other three actors—Roque, De Guzman and Versales as Fabian, Carlo and Marco, respectively have delivered well their scenes. Each of them showed fine and noticeable moments.
An Allegory of Sorts.
Clearly the story that Anton Santamaria attempts to present in this film is allegorical, but it fails in some parts particularly in storytelling. It makes the audiences wonder what and where the elements came from especially in trying to establish the character of Rhed Bustamante as the mysterious and evil personified Anghela together with Phoebe Walker as her sidekick nun named Sr. Cecilia. Even if the director, the cinematographer Neil Derrick Bion and production designer Ericson Navarro tried to rescue the flow of the story—it still leaves the audience with some puzzlement.
Despite the creepiness of the Anghela’s stare in her most shots, it was quite disappointing to see her die just like that as a sacrifice and stabbed to death by Miguel. As cunning and as evil as she is—she never showed such grandeur in her tricks. The film settled only for those eerie visions as well as demented and religious statues that came to life in some scenes. Yes, it was successful in scaring the wits of the audience maybe that was just the intention?
In the ending, the three remaining priests who chose the path that Anghela has showed them perhaps have created something, a stir in the audience’s minds. In spite of their connivance and the ‘evilness’ within themselves they were still ordained as the newly addition to the Church’s ministers.
This is still a Matti Film.
From his controversial films like ‘On the Job’ (2013) and ‘Honor Thy Father’ (2013), this one is another social commentary about how ‘evil triumphs over good’, no matter how good try to pin down evil. It tries to present a certain reality that people would rather choose what is ‘convenient’ as opposed to ‘challenges’ and ‘persecutions’.
Again, this is still a Matti film. It always has something to let the viewers think, somehow.
But if you are expecting more on this Matti flick, don’t be tricked by the illusion of he was able to make religious icons move and transform or elementals appear; but rather see dig deeper into what it is really trying to say, and that is fighting one’s inner demons.
I was a bit confused on how a priest (Neil Ryan Sese) trying to investigate and reveal Anghela and Cecilia’s so-called saintly images would also end up just like that; I felt the ending wasn’t really well thought of.
‘Seklusyon’ which is taunted to replace the vacant slot that ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ films in the past is painted in grainy textures to make it believable as devil-infested piece set in a secluded monastery in 1940s. It is still perhaps the most talked of the town films due to Matti as the director along with Alonte in the lead and Bustamante as a shoo-in for the Best Actress category.
