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The Expat
Philippines 2021
produced by Yuson Charles, Charlotte Dianco, Cody Simon, Sean Cooney (executive), Maylen Cooney (executive), Rahul Andra (executive), Stephen Conroy (executive), Joseph Graybill (executive), Rohan Hartley (executive), Aaron Harvey (executive), Edward Jacobson (executive), Dennis Ostrovsky (executive), David Salo (executive), Daniel K. Walter (executive) for 4Now Films, Badladz Productions, Spring Fairy Entertainment
directed by Gregory Segal
starring Lev Gorn, Mon Confiado, Lovely Abella, Leo Martinez, Lara Morena, Mosang, Billy Ray Gallion, JB Saliba, Chanel Latorre, Andrew Gan, Chris Leonardo, Rob Sy, Kervin Rivas, Edward Jacobson, Dani Silvano, Aya Sarmiento, Sasha Paras, Maj Cueto, Tala Diola, Aegle Onni, Rohanna Marie Barrios, Rina Medina, Ahlex Leyva
written by Gregory Segal, music by Mario Grigorov, Utkucan Eken
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Nick (Lev Gorn), a former GI these days living on disability benefits,
has decided to pay the Philippines a lengthy visit as the climate's
supposed to be good for his health. Not really having anything to do while
staying in Manila, Nick has joined a dating app, which results in him
meeting lots of beautiful young women and having lots of meaningless yet
satisfying sex - so in a way, Nick's in Seventh Heaven ... well, until two
of the girls he has had sex with end up murdered. Now of course, it
doesn't take the Manila police long to link the murders to Nick, and the
investigating detective Cruz (Mon Confiado) does his best to pin the
murders on him - but the truth is, he doesn't have more than
circumstantial evidence that, as damning as it may look could as well be
chalked off as coincidence. Even a third murder, again a girl he has slept
with, can't be conclusively be linked to Nick. However, now Nick is
catching the hint, and he moves from Manila to a small village on the
island Mindoro - to see that the island girls are easy pick-ups, so since
he enjoys Mindoro life seems to have gotten only better. But after three
months of peace and quiet and meaningless sex, one of the girls he's been
with turns up dead, then another one. It doesn't take long before
detective Cruz turns up on the island, but as it was in Manila, he can't
prove Nick's guilt. Now it's not long before Nick decides to move again,
but then he falls in love with Delilah (Lovely Abella), who's also
attracted to him and is not nearly as easy a lay as all the other girls,
so Nick decides to stick around and prove himself innocent and at
the same time he tries to keep Delilah out of harm's way, and eventually
he comes up with a fool-proof way to catch the killer, a plan even
detecitve Cruz supports. Thing is, as fool-proof as Nick's plan might be
in theory, he doesn't know who he's up against ...
A pretty cool thriller, and one that keeps you guessing till the end -
and that's though the film doesn't end with the capture of the killer as
these films usually do but then only adds a whole other layer to the
story. Plus the film makes pretty much perfect use of its Filippino
locations without coming across as a mere travelogue. Plus, the acting is
solid, with the performances giving the plot even more depth than you'd
expect from a film like this - so in all, a very likeable piece of genre
cinema that's much more than just your run-of-the-mill murder mystery.
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