Bracing change of pace for Piolo Pascual and Rhian Ramos

PASCUAL AND RAMOS. Unconventional predator-versus-prey progression turns predictable genre on its head.

Piolo Pascual and Rhian Ramos dare to make a bracing change of thespic pace as he portrays a lonely physician grieving the accidental death of his pregnant wife, while she’s a battered femme fatale running away from an abusive husband in the twisted romantic thriller, “Silong.”

Jeffrey Hidalgo and Roy Sevilla Ho’s noirish meditation on crime and punishment is an intriguing hybrid of romance and suspense—about Miguel (Pascual) and Valerie (Ramos), who find comfort in each other’s company as they come to grips with their respective demons.

Abandoned by his unhappy mother at age 6, Miguel wants nothing but a happy home life for his wife, Caroline (Angel Jacob), and their unborn child.

But, just before Caroline delivers their baby, she falls victim to a speeding vehicle and dies in Miguel’s arms—or, at least, that’s how the grieving husband remembers her passing.

Miguel is shaken out of his self-imposed solitary confinement when the visibly shaken Valerie comes barging into his life. After two years, Valerie has had enough of her joyless marriage with a misogynist!

Unexpected visitors

As Miguel’s unexpected visitors soon reveal, there’s more to the damsel in distress’ contentious tale than domestic strife gone awry. Is Val who she says she is?

With the help of cinematographer Rain Yamson’s moody visuals, the movie whisks viewers through seemingly genre-driven clichés that allow the film to explore relevant themes in an unpredictable fashion.

Unfortunately, it eschews pace for something more mannered and meandering, creating a vacuum in the exposition that compromises the production’s initial impact. But, it does make up for its slow-grinding pace and implausible missteps with twisted tweaks and turns in its plot, surprisingly sprung one after the other before its creepy and cautionary finale.

The film may not be fully satisfying—but, just the same, its format-shifting style and themes offer a reliable resource for Piolo and Rhian to emotionally draw from, and that plays well to their strengths as actors.

They also share a perceptible chemistry that makes their scenes easy to take.

Passion, fire

Rhian displays passion and fire, raring to get what she wants, tempered with the vulnerability of a woman who slowly succumbs to the charm of the sensitive stranger who saves her from imminent harm.

The film doesn’t follow the conventional predator-versus-prey progression. Even more surprising is Piolo’s well-limned characterization and the shocking turnaround his character makes that gives the movie a real sense of dread (no spoilers here).

As Miguel, Piolo is laid-back—because he needs to be. But, just when you think you’ve figured out what he’s going to do next, his actions help the film ease into a narrative crescendo, rather than an onslaught of overwrought effects—and that’s something you don’t always see in cookie-cutter suspense-thrillers!