NIGHTBIRD (2023)
Director: Lawrence Fajardo
Cast: Christine Bermas, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Sid Lucero, Arron Villaflor, Ali Khatibi Felix Rico, Alexa Ocampo, Chloe Jenna
1.25 out of 10.
Philippine-made exploitative Grade Z variation of Lipstick, Revenge, and Promising Young Woman about Rachel (Bermas), an anthropologist with a black belt in martial arts, who is set to take her master's degree in Melbourne. She agrees to join her friends (Ocampo and Jenna) on a night out with three virtually male strangers as a send-off. An evening of partying turns dark when the women are sexually assaulted and it is up to Rachel to even the score. The film fails to fulfill its promise of an avenging protagonist as it spends too much time on the assaults which were hard to watch. The script has some laughable exchange of lines like when one of the men asks Rachel how long she has been working and she answers that she is taking her masteral studies for two years! It also tries hard to be current by injecting commentary about gender roles. Rachel's character development is uneven and illogical. She is portrayed as an intuitive and intelligent woman at the start then makes illogical choices later. Bermas and her two female co-stars need to take acting lessons before they make another movie (if they ever will again). The male actors fare better given they are more experienced performers with Fernandez being the best of the lot as the sinister party host. The thriller has a sheen of an amateur or student film and a low-budget R-rated TV movie. For a vastly better Filipino film with the same premise, check out the original 1980 Angela Markado. In Filipino with English subtitles.
1.25 out of 10.
Philippine-made exploitative Grade Z variation of Lipstick, Revenge, and Promising Young Woman about Rachel (Bermas), an anthropologist with a black belt in martial arts, who is set to take her master's degree in Melbourne. She agrees to join her friends (Ocampo and Jenna) on a night out with three virtually male strangers as a send-off. An evening of partying turns dark when the women are sexually assaulted and it is up to Rachel to even the score. The film fails to fulfill its promise of an avenging protagonist as it spends too much time on the assaults which were hard to watch. The script has some laughable exchange of lines like when one of the men asks Rachel how long she has been working and she answers that she is taking her masteral studies for two years! It also tries hard to be current by injecting commentary about gender roles. Rachel's character development is uneven and illogical. She is portrayed as an intuitive and intelligent woman at the start then makes illogical choices later. Bermas and her two female co-stars need to take acting lessons before they make another movie (if they ever will again). The male actors fare better given they are more experienced performers with Fernandez being the best of the lot as the sinister party host. The thriller has a sheen of an amateur or student film and a low-budget R-rated TV movie. For a vastly better Filipino film with the same premise, check out the original 1980 Angela Markado. In Filipino with English subtitles.