When things are not what they seem to be

PASCUAL. Vivifies his character’s pain and torment with believable unction.

From time to time we rail against the general predictability of local TV-film fare, and antsily remind producers and directors to “surprise” viewers with unexpected and thus truly exciting productions.

We’re happy to report that the current film, “Silong,” starring Piolo Pascual and Rhian Ramos, is scoring plus points in that key regard:

At first blush, Jeffrey Hidalgo and Roy Ho’s film comes across as a so-so movie about two exceedingly sad or victimized people—Piolo as a doctor whose beloved wife is fatally struck by a bus, and Rhian as the bludgeoned and brutalized wife of a beastly police officer.

Piolo saves and hides her, healing her many physical and psychological wounds and eventually falling in love with her. —Happy ending?

Not on your life. As the film slides into the second half of its storytelling, it becomes apparent that, in this production, things are definitely not what they initially and “predictably” seem to be.

That’s right—Piolo isn’t the hero in shining medical armor, and Rhian is no victim! What they actually are is what the movie is really all about—namely, contorted players in a festering folio of Abnormal Psychology cases that chillingly reveal how twisted the human psyche can become, due to warped upbringing, or the extreme violence done to them—which makes them love inflicting pain, in turn!

Tantalizing clue

No spoiler here, but a tantalizing clue into the movie’s grotesque gallery of psychological horrors is provided by the report that Rhian’s vile police-officer husband was himself bloodily murdered! What does that unexpected revelation do to her story? Just asking . . .

Horrific plot and character twists aside, we can observe that the film gives its stars many opportunities to prove their thespic worth, since unexpected, “revelatory” and even “contradictory” acting is one of the achievements that separate true thespians from the also-runs.

In this regard, Piolo turns out to be more successful and effective than Rhian. When his character goes from hero to heel, the actor is able to vivify his pain and torment with believable unction.

Rhian also does her best to rise above her limitations with a relatively gutsy portrayal that has more bite and edge than usual—but, she stops short of being truly convincing.

What seems to be the problem? When her character “breaks” and “tells all,” the actress opts to take the “nonchalantly evil” approach, and thus makes the horrors she turns out to be capable of—well, not horrific enough.

This lack of deep and complete emotional “investment” also weakened her portrayal in her recent drama series, “The Rich Man’s Daughter,” so she should really focus on making up for it, her next acting assignment around.

Finally, on the film itself: While we appreciate the effective plot and character twists in its second half, we ended up being less than completely involved in and moved by it, because its “shocking” incursions into abnormal psychology came off more like case studies than empathetic dramas about real people.