Monday, December 8, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Academy Museum, Los Angeles
Mike De Leon (1947–2025), one of the most significant filmmakers of the Second Golden Age of Philippine cinema, bases his 1981 psychological thriller masterpiece on Nick Joaquin’s true crime story and constructs the narrative into a critical allegory for Ferdinand Marcos’s dictatorship. Vic Silayan plays a retired policeman who asserts authoritarian control over his wife and son-in-law while indulging in a twisted obsession with his daughter. Bold close-ups of the characters not only parallel the claustrophobic undertone of the film but also herald a sense of looming doom.