DELETER (2022) Review
Directed by Mikhail Red
If you’re hoping to get chills this Christmas, you should consider watching Mikhail Red’s latest horror thriller Deleter.
The film delivers atmospheric chills through its setting and cinematography. It felt like Red, together with Nadine Lustre as its star, revived the 2000s Asian horror like Ju-On: The Grudge and our very own Sigaw.
It’s all about building the mood, thanks to its setting, a creepy office that has little lightings and the music, the film delivers the needed scares for a fun experience inside the cinema. I was watching alone but the cinema was packed so I could hear screams whenever the horror scenes arrive.
It was fun. What makes the horror genre really an escapist is that you’d want to give your full attention to experience it to the fullest. As much as I wanted that, I cover my ears most of the time to lessen the scares. I know.. But watching horror movies feels like a survival game for me. And that’s what I felt while watching Deleter. My stress level goes up anticipating the scares.
Nadine Lustre portrays her character Lyra, a content moderator, perfectly. I felt and understand the stress her character is going through. It’s like whatever role she’s given, she’s a natural in it.
Cinematography and music are also impeccable. The story though, it could dive deeper into either the setting, which is content moderation, or the struggles of its main character Lyra. Or maybe better, both. There’s a lot of potential there. This is maybe the first time content moderation is tackled in a film in the Philippines and the film already presented how much stressful and creepy their work is.
The scares are there but you kind of wish that the scares would go beyond, that you’ll carry it when you leave the cinema. Because the film also presented how we use social media as a social commentary especially today. How we’re little by little getting used to violence and other contents that we consume that are just not healthy with just a click away.
If you’re looking for something gory, a visually appealing horror that delivers a decent amount of atmospheric chills and is also well-acted, then Deleter is for you. But if you want more, something that creeps at your imagination day or night, or a story that is well fleshed out, you might look for something else.
3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS
‘Deleter’ is now showing in Philippine cinemas from VIVA Films. Rated R-13 by the MTRCB.