Metro Manila Film Festival: “Honor Thy Father”

JOHN Lloyd Cruz and Meryll Soriano

(WE ARE running this guide to help moviegoers plan their holiday cinema tour. The 41st Metro Manila Film Festival runs from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7, 2016.)

Honor Thy Father

Directed by Erik Matti; stars John Lloyd Cruz, Meryll Soriano, Tirso Cruz III, Perla Bautista, Dan Fernandez, William Martinez, Yayo Aguila, Boom Labrusca, Khalil Ramos, Lander Vera Perez, Krystal Brimner

Edgar gets entangled in his father-in-law’s get-rich-quick scheme. When his wife’s dad turns up dead and the money stolen, Edgar must appease friends who want their investment back. Edgar and his family soon receive death threats, so he turns to his disreputable relatives. The Hollywood Reporter’s Harry Windsor calls it “a muscularly indignant thriller… a flinty portrait of inequality and vigilante justice.”

Toronto International Film Festival’s Steve Gravestock relates that this crime thriller “examines fundamentalist Christianity and white-collar crime.” It is “many things: a suspenseful story of betrayal and retribution, a drama about familial reconciliation and a commentary on the tenuous nature of newfound wealth,” Gravestock remarks.

Bayani San Diego Jr.