Apocalypse Child — a Filipino indie film that defies traditional storytelling — creates an experience as captivating and untamed as the waves of Baler.
Take the purest form of matter and turn it into a substance of design and creativity and you’ll get this well crafted drama genre movie. The creative process that went into Apocalypse Child is of mind blowing proportion. Bits of cinematic elements and a narrative of structural atoms form a complex mix of emotions and a gamut of expressions definite to make you scream for more and hope the movie never ends.
Best described, it almost doesn’t feel like a movie but more of a documentary of real experiences gathered and assimilated to produce the most honest version of art imitating life.
A Cinematic Ride Through Emotions and Myth
Apocalypse Child tells the story of Ford (Sid Lucero). A local Baler Aurora surfer said to be film director Francis Ford Coppola’s illegitimate child born out of a nondescript one night stand during the 1970’s when the renowned film Apocalypse Now was shot in the Philippines some thirty years ago. Now in his thirties, Ford is caught in a cascade of bitter betrayals and domestic revelations from people close to him. Forced to confront his past, he eventually discovers the truth and the myth that surrounds his name.
Anyway, if you’re one of those lucky to have watched that 2015 Jay Abello movie Flotsam, this film is relatively similar but surprisingly, completely opposite as well- this being darker, more sinister and as real as it gets in real life.
Art Imitates Life in Every Flawed Character
The biggest acting revelation? Annicka Dolonius who gives out a stunning performance worthy of an obvious recognition. Plus, it helps that she has some serious tit action in the opening parts of the film with Sid. Here, she plays Ford’s girlfiend, Fiona, who gets betrayed when the former’s childhood friend and now Baler governor, Rich (R.K. Bagatsing) introduces him to fiance, Serena (Gwen Zamora) who immediately takes a liking to him.
The movie is also represented by an ensemble of indie film supporting veteran actors, Archie Alemanya (Ford’s pot smoking confidant) and Ana Abad Santos (who plays Chona, Ford’s immature mother who apparently got impregnated by Francis Ford Coppola when she was 14 and somehow never gotten used to the role of motherhood).
As for the lead actors, Gwen Zamora is the highschool crush that won’t go away and Sid Lucero will be that guy which every dateless bonehead teen would want to, well, become, the fact that he boned (sorry for the lack of a better term) Gwen in the movie like he would’ve in real life.
What else?
Final Thoughts: A Filipino Indie Gem You Shouldn’t Miss
Apocalypse Child is the true friend that you cherish for eternity and one you watch when boredom suddenly hits. Bold, morally perpendicular and domineering in ways. The biggest payoff? Its a Filipino movie. This has all the elements to make it all the way to Hollywood if not for the direct discrimination the industry has on Asian film making. Best watched on an empty melancholic stomach, Apocalypse Child is a truly unforgettable cinematic endeavor that should be on top of every movie lover’s list. A sordid take on human interaction, relationship flaws and noble infidelities…
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