Nightbird (2023) Poster

(2023)

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5/10
A rather graphic revenge movie...
paul_haakonsen1 June 2023
Well, I had actually never heard about this 2023 Filipino thriller titled "Nightbird" prior to sitting down to watch it. I wasn't sure what I was in for here, aside from it being a thriller of sorts. And with it being an Asian movie that I hadn't already seen, of course the movie got a fair chance.

The storyline in "Nightbird" was okay, though I have to say that director Lawrence Fajardo went a bit too far with the explicit depicting of the sexual assault scenes. I think the narrative would have been better off with less graphic explicit contents, with just hinting at it, and letting the audience do the rest. On that account, and because of what is shown in the movie, the movie is heavily leaning upon being an exploitation movie, while there certainly also is elements of a revenge type of movie here.

I wasn't familiar at all with a single actor or actress on the cast list, but I will say that they had casted some good performers, because the actors and actresses put on good performances in bringing their characters and the story to life on the screen.

While "Nightbird" is a watchable movie, it is without a doubt a movie that doesn't find a broad appeal with the general audience, given the rather explicit sexual assault scenes.

It should be said though, that it certainly was nice to see a movie that wasn't a goofy and generic romantic comedy, which the Filipino cinema seems to spew out by the dozens.

Watchable for what it was, though it is hardly a movie that warrants a second viewing, simply because there isn't sufficient contents and layers to the storyline.

My rating of director Lawrence Fajardo's 2023 movie "Nightbird" lands on a five out of ten stars.
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3/10
The trailer made this movie look better than it is
syntory24 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Here is one of those instances where the trailer is actually better than the movie. If you've seen the trailer for Nightbird then stop! Dont bother watching the film, you've seen all the good parts already.

After watching the trailer I decided to give this movie a shot. A Filipino revenge movie?! Sure, why not. It didnt take long to realize this movie was going to be terrible. I was 3 or 4 minutes in before I realized that I had been hoodwinked with that trailer!

As far as this movie being terrible, it comes down to the writing and directing. The acting is not the best either but this movie was poorly produced. Very low budget production. The rape scene was a bit odd. It was a long scene and seemed like it was the actual climax of the movie. I say this because the actual revenge part of the film is shorter than the rape scene. The revenge part only took 5 minutes out of the last 20 minutes of the movie. I would say dont waste your time with the film......just watch the trailer.
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2/10
An exploitative grade Z imitation of better revenge films.
keatingpaul21 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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