I rarely do this kind of stuff, writing a review for a Filipino movie. The last time I remembered being in a theater, watching a Filipino film was way back when Feng Shui was still at its box-office peak and the Imelda, the brilliant documentary, immersed itself in international distinctions. Now, I thought about the hype, and I bloody well did consider it as a hype, as I could always hear people talking about it at school. It's not that I don't want to watch Filipino movies, of course, there had been quite a few outstanding Filipino movies that I personally love - real classic Pinoy filmmaking. It's just that most Filipino movies nowadays lack the true calibre of a solid film, lack the real essence of movie-making, and just profusely bombarded Philippine cinema with rubbish films, teenage love story garbage, purely sickening comedies which are not really funny and over-the-top action films that are so predictable that even before something's happening, you already know what's coming - and that's just way too sick. Star Cinema is the only one trying in the movie business to make good movies, and it's only picture-business that launches movies one at the time, and never losing that seasonal balance.
Now, Sukob is a Star Cinema film, we all know that - and right well said, it's a Filipino film. What I really felt thankful was that it was another break after a long drought of heavily boring Filipino movies. Just like Feng Shui, a former box-office champ, Sukob is a horror/drama film that tackles about a curse. After all, Feng Shui also talked about a curse, about a certain "bagua" and now Sukob is all about cursed weddings. Now what's next, cursed cellphones perhaps? Or cursed studies? We don't know. But all I know for now is that I enjoyed watching Sukob, a rarity when it comes to watching Filipino movies. Chito Roño proves to be masterful at his craft. He pretty knows the material very well, and he handles every scene, may it be drama or horror, with artistic confidence and unique vision. Sukob is an often seat-gripping thriller, just like Feng Shui, with a plot so full of mystery, just like Feng Shui again, developing in a pace most horror-mystery movies evolve.
I won't give out details here but I would like to give out some few chips to smoothen this out. Kris Aquino's character, Sandy, realizes that her wedding is cursed but she doesn't know why or who's giving the curse to her. Now it's her job to unravel the mystery as she does encounter the horrible-looking ghastly apparition of a dead flower-girl, who utterly looks like a reincartion of The Ring's Samara Morgan, but only a bit much little in size. Heck, why do Asian horror films love putting girls with long black hairs, sporting a figure wearing a white ensemble? I mean, it's all over Asian movies! But anyway, I'll just stop spoiling here because you know the reasons, more details, less entertainment.
I like the plot, it's interesting. It never bores, just like Feng Shui, and it has scary moments, I admit. I absolutely appreciate Ms Claudine Barretto's performance, and she earns so much respect for her work in this film. She stunning, and she did an awesome job portraying a traumatized wife, whose newly wed husband just died due to the curse. Oops, I spoiled it again. Her talents are indeed infinite. And to Ms Kris Aquino, well, as I've seen her both in Feng Shui and this one, I could say that her acting is so similar that you couldn't tell any difference. She's acceptable but as an audience, I could feel that she lacks that ability as what Ms Barretto gave out albeit solidly.
Radically speaking, I hate the ending. It's a Chito Roño film alright, and honestly, he's trying to pull out an M. Night Shyamalan twist here, as what he successfully did in Feng Shui, but sadly he failed in Sukob. I mean, what the bloody hell did he do in the ending of Sukob man?! I think he just messed it up alright, not really trying to impose a definite connection to the whole plot was developing. The film has indeed its weak points, and the conclusion was an absolute one. I think in Feng Shui, the job was done better. But still, the story of Sukob was a terrific one, a kind of mystery that you wanted to solve for your own self, and Roño indeed knows how to set mood in such a kind of film.
Well, Sukob is not a bad Filipino film. It's engaging and surely a kind of film that would give you heebie-jeebies on a boring Friday night. Part three then perhaps? What now, cursed PC?

Rating: B