Nora Aunor (center) in “Kabisera”
(We are running this guide to help moviegoers plan their holiday cinema tour. The 42nd Metro Manila Film Festival runs from Dec. 25 to Jan. 3, 2017.)
Directed by Real Florido and Arturo San Agustin; stars Nora Aunor, Ricky Davao, JC de Vera, Jason Abalos, Victor Neri, Ces Quesada, Menggie Cobarrubias, Perla Bautista, RJ Agustin, Ronwaldo Martin, Kiko Matos and Karl Medina
In this sociopolitical drama, a seemingly perfect family gets shaken when a number of murder attempts are made on its patriarch, Tunying de Dios (Davao). His car gets blown up; their house, pelted with bullets. Then, one night, policemen break into their home and shoot him dead, while his wife, Mercy de Dios (Aunor), is locked up in a dark room.
Mercy seeks for answers only to be confronted by a devastating truth about her husband and one of her children, which will continue to haunt her. To keep her beleaguered family from falling even further apart, Mercy steps in and takes charge, as symbolized by her sitting on their dinner table’s kabisera (head of a table) during noche buena. —ALLAN POLICARPIO