‘Mallari’ is a horror movie that sees Piolo Pascual portraying three roles, including the titular character who is a serial murderer despite being a priest in the early 1800s.
PIOLO Pascual portrays the country's first serial killer in 'Mallari.'
PIOLO Pascual as Padre Pedro Pelaez in 'Gomburza.'
The Pinoy film industry must consider it a blessing that phenomenal American pop idol Taylor Swift decided to release her filmed concert The Eras Tour this month, and the release covers the Philippines. The screening happens almost two months before the 2023 nationwide Metro Manila Film Festival, which kicks off right on Christmas Day.
Those two months may be enough for Pinoy moviegoers to save up for some or all of the entries in the festival, possibly making the festival earn more than it did last year. In December last year, we were all still struggling to recover from the pandemic.
Swift's concert film had a "broken" schedule of screenings in the Philippines. It had an initial screening of only three days on 13-15 October, the 13th of the month being a Friday. Swift is said to have always considered Friday the 13th a lucky day for her.
The concert film was also supposed to open in theaters in the US and in Canada on 13 October, but the advance ticket selling was overwhelming, so Swift decided to begin showing the film on Thursday. Swift really knows speedy ways to make more money.
The movie amassed $92.8 million during its opening weekend in the US and Canada, making it the highest-grossing domestic concert film ever, according to Box Office Mojo, which tracks box office earnings. That means it surpassed the $73 million run of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never in 2011.
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In the Philippines, an entertainment website reported that the Swift film made P98 million on its first three days of screening. The movie runs for almost three hours and the ticket price is higher than usual. It reopened on Wednesday, 18 October.
Happily for the 10 movies that made it to MMFF 2023, there are no reports (yet) that a film as extremely interesting as The Eras Tour will be shown in November, on the days before 25 December.
First MMFF movie
As for the 10 MMFF entries, the potential top-drawer among them is Mallari, since it stars Piolo Pascual in what is, if we're correct, his first MMFF movie.
Mallari is a horror movie that sees Pascual portraying three roles, including the titular character who is a serial murderer despite being a priest in the early 1800s. The Catholic cleric's crimes in Magalang, Pampanga are recounted in the book Laying the Foundations: Kapampangan Pioneers in the Philippine Church, 1592-2001 by historian Luciano P. R. Santiago, published by the Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies of Holy Angel University in 2002.
The priest was said to have wiped out 57 people in a span of 10 years; he had to kill so many people allegedly as an antidote to the physical pain and other sufferings his mother was going through because of a witch's spell. In Tagalog, "nakulam."
The second story is set in the 1950s and the third in contemporary 2000s. The publicity yarn about the film does not mention the professions of the two other characters Pascual plays, as directed by Derrick Cabrido who helmed the horror film Clarita in 2019 starring Jodi Sta. Maria.
'Gomburza'
Despite his handsomeness, Pascual has always had a priestly look, which must be why he also plays one in another MMFF entry: Gomburza. No, the "Papa P" of Pinoy showbiz is not portraying any of the three martyred priests but someone close to one of the three: Fr. Pedro Pelaez, believed to be a beloved mentor to the youngest of the three, Fr. Jose Burgos.
In the film directed by Pepe Diokno from a script by much-awarded playwright Rody Vera, Fr. Burgos is played by Cedric Juan, whose best-known film is Two and One, a threesome LGBTQ+ film well-admired by viewers last year for its intimate scenes among the three macho gay characters.
In Gomburza, Dante Rivero plays the oldest of the three martyrs, Fr. Mariano Gomes (not "z," according to the country's most popular contemporary historian, Ambeth Ocampo), while Enchong Dee is Fr. Jacinto Zamora.
Pascual, who has admitted in recent interviews that there were times in his life when he wanted to be a priest, and then a pastor when he became a Born-again Christian, said Mallari is not anti-religion and that it's not meant to be a documentary but a piece of horror fiction. Mallari is Pascual's first-ever horror movie.
His Fr. Pelaez in Gomburza is also likely a complex character. Scriptwriter Vera has said that the film, produced by Jesuit Communication Philippines, does not portray any of the three central martyrs as saintly.
Pascual knows he may not be adored by fans upon viewing Mallari. But he seems to desire being admired more for his versatility as an actor. At this point in his career, this accomplished actor appears to crave more challenges than simply being adored.
