ANG MANANANGGAL SA UNIT 23B (2016) Review
Directed by Prime Cruz
A Manananggal love story with a hugot is what it is advertised, but this isn’t your typical Manananggal love story, it doesn’t even go with your typical romance hugot movie. Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B changes the game, it offers more than just blood, than just romance, it offers the human side of a monster. And it’s a beautiful tragedy.
Ryza Cenon plays the fragile Jewel who transforms into a monster called Manananggal while having an orgasm. But the film tells more than just her being a manananggal, it’s more of her being a human, her desire to love even if it’s dangerous for the both of them. This is her most daring role to date but it didn’t seem to bother her being a sexy flesh-eating manananggal. She owns her character, she shines in this film. I can’t stop praising her after watching the film.
Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B, like Cruz’s first film Sleepless is slow-paced but how he builds her character through storytelling and how the film builds the mood through cinematography, it’s spellbinding. The new cut has even better CGI, Jewel’s transformation into a manananggal will leave you in awe.
This is unlike any romance film, this is unlike any manananggal film. Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B is a must see for its sincere intention of bringing a personal story of a woman trapped in a curse but fights for her human side. That even though she’ll probably go to hell, she still chooses to love and luckily, she finds love.
4 OUT OF 5 STARS
“Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B” opens in cinemas nationwide August 16, 2017 from The IdeaFirst Company, QCinema and Quantum Films. An official entry to the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2017.