Kuwaresma (film)

Last updated

Kuwaresma
Kuwaresma 2019 poster.png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Erik Matti
Screenplay byKatski Flores
Story by
  • Erik Matti
  • Katski Flores
Produced by
  • Ronald 'Dondon' Monteverde
  • Erik Matti
  • Quark Henares
  • Joe Caliro
Starring
CinematographyNeil Derrick Bion
Edited byJay Halili
Music by
  • Erwin Romulo
  • Malek Lopez
Production
companies
Distributed byReality Entertainment
Release date
  • May 15, 2019 (2019-05-15)
Running time
113 minutes [1]
CountryPhilippines
LanguageFilipino

Kuwaresma, also known as The Entity, is a 2019 Filipino supernatural horror film directed by Erik Matti and starring Sharon Cuneta and John Arcilla, with Kent Gonzales, Pam Gonzales and Guila Alvarez in their supporting roles. The story follows Luis Fajardo (Kent Gonzales), who returns to his home in Baguio to mourn the death of his twin sister. He is welcomed by his parents—Rebecca (Sharon Cuneta) and Arturo (John Arcilla)—in their family, but they remain silent on the truth about the death of his sister.

Contents

Cast

Production

Kuwaresma was produced under Reality Entertainment and Globe Studios, [9] and was directed by Erik Matti. [10] Matti and Dondon Monteverde of Reality Entertainment initially planned to create Kuwaresma in a smaller scale. [3] Matti began work on the film in October 2018, after he left Darna and experienced casting issues on the sequel film On the Job 2. Originally meant to be a "quick film", more serious work on Kuwaresma was done after Sharon Cuneta and John Arcilla was cast as the main characters of the film and both were given five-page scripts. [4] Filming began in December 2018 in Baguio. [11] Matti selected Baguio as the primary location due to its good food and weather, which he found conducive to filming. [6]

The film is set in 1985 in Baguio. For the house of the Fajardo family, a "beautiful" building which is also "scarred, elegant yet mysterious, welcoming yet somber, perfect yet slightly off", was used. After Cuneta came on board, Matti and Monteverde began scouting more locations in Baguio for four days, during which time they located a house devoid of any furniture nearby The Mansion. They also used another Baguio house which the owner of the Fajardo residence also owns. [4]

The production crew comprised 150 people, who resided in the city for a month and a half. The film's art department worked on painting and clothing for scenes set in different time periods: 1944, 1955, 1965, 1977, and 1985. The script required most of the film to be set at night. The climax, which involves a confrontation between Cuneta and Arcilla's characters, took two days to film. [4]

Visual effects were also heavily used in Kuwaresma, including the demon that appears in the film. The demon was portrayed by a man in a basic silicone and latex demon suit enhanced digitally through the addition of textures on the suit and exaggerated horns and hair. [12]

Release

Kuwaresma was premiered with its director's cut version at SM Megamall on May 13, 2019. [2] The film had its general release in the Philippines on May 15, 2019. [9] Two versions of the film, which were rated R-13 and R-16 by the MTRCB, were released theatrically. [13] [2] The film began streaming on Netflix in select Asian countries in September 2019, under the title The Entity. [14]

The film is also set to be screened in various film festivals outside the Philippines, including the Slash Festival des Fantastischen Films in Austria (from September 19 to 29, 2019), the ToHorror Film Festival in Italy (from October 8 to 17, 2019), Madrid International Fantastic Film Festival (from October 22 to 26, 2019) in Spain, the Tokyo International Film Festival (from October 29 to November 5, 2019) in Japan, the Oslo International Film Festival (from November 16 to 27, 2019) in Norway, and at the Bunos Aires Rojo Sangre (from November 28 to December 8, 2019) in Argentina. [14]

Critical reception

Julia Allende of Philippine Entertainment Portal criticized Kuwaresma for its over reliance on supernatural elements than on character motivations, its characters for being unoriginal, and its plot for being predictable. However, she praised its technical aspects such as the use of bluish-gray color scheme to establish the foreboding atmosphere of the film and the performance of Kent Gonzales who is relatively new in film acting compared to veterans Sharon Cuneta and John Arcilla. She also commended Arcilla's portrayal as an effective villain despite his character not being a well-rounded one. Allende also commented on a missed opportunity to make the film's title (which is Lent in Filipino) more relevant to the film's plot and suggested that the film could have looked into Baguio's folklore as inspiration for the film. [13] Fred Hawson for ABS-CBN News also praised the film's technical aspects and Kent Gonzales's performance. However, Hawson found the plot increasingly convoluted as it progresses and its revelation as unnecessary. [15]

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References

  1. ↑ "A Behind-The-Scenes Look at Kuwaresma". Globe. May 14, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Dimaculangan, Jocelyn (May 15, 2019). "Sharon Cuneta thanks daughter Frankie for gracing Kuwaresma premiere night". PEP.ph. Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  3. 1 2 "'Kuwaresma' touted as Erik Matti's scariest film". The Philippine Star. May 26, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Salterio, Leah (May 11, 2019). "How Erik Matti convinced Sharon Cuneta to do 'Kuwaresma'". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Bautista, Mario (March 24, 2019). "Sharon loses few pounds doing first horror movie". Journal Online. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "From the desk of Erik Matti: an introduction to the characters of his scariest movie yet". ABS-CBN News. May 9, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  7. ↑ Brosas, Alex (May 22, 2019). "Lucky newbie Kent Gonzales shines in 'Kuwaresma'". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  8. ↑ Valeza, Karen (May 8, 2019). "Newbie Kent on working with Sharon, John in movie 'Kuwaresma'". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  9. 1 2 Lo, Ricky (May 15, 2019). "Sharon Cuneta Unbound". The Philippine Star. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  10. ↑ Cepeda, Cody (April 30, 2019). "John Arcilla on Sharon Cuneta, direk Erik Matti: 'Generous co-actor, director'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Sharon Cuneta, nagsimula nang mag-shooting ng horror film". PEP.ph (in Tagalog and English). Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc. PEP Troika. December 12, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  12. ↑ Cepeda, Coy (May 21, 2019). "Erik Matti hints at 'hidden' visual effects in horror film 'Kuwaresma'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  13. 1 2 Allende, Julia (May 18, 2019). "Kuwaresma, a family drama disguised as supernatural horror". PEP.ph. Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  14. 1 2 Bernardino, Stephanie Marie (September 11, 2019). "Kuwaresma' make waves abroad". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  15. ↑ Hawson, Fred (May 16, 2019). "Movie review: Fans of Filipino horror will like this Sharon Cuneta film". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
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