Lorena (Shaina Magdayao) is a young doctor who opens a clinic for the poor in a remote Philippine village in the late 1970s. The village is controlled and terrorized by uniformed armed men, which the prologue of the film identifies as members of the Martial Law era Civilian Home Defense Forces.[5]
Lorena disappears without a trace, prompting her husband Hugo (Piolo Pascual), an activist, poet, and teacher, to come looking for her. Hugo comes to the village and comes face to face with a community "shattered by despotism and violence."
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on nine reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10.[6]Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]
Variety praised the director for remaining "emphatically his own artist, whether to exhilarating or punishing effect," saying the movie has some "raw, stirring interludes." It however thought that Diaz's editing weakened the film's impact, saying "it’s hard not to wonder what finer rhythmic and tonal variations another editor… might have brought to the table this time."[4]
The Hollywood Reporter called the film a "seething critique about the Philippines’ current trigger-happy president in the form of a 'rock opera.'"[8]
Accolades
Season of the Devil won best film in the Gems section of 58th Festival Internacional de Cine Cartagena de Indias held in Colombia in March 2018.[5]
The film led the 2019 FAMAS Awards with the most number of nominations, including nods for best picture and best director, and four for best supporting actress for Shaina Magdayao, Bituin Escalante, Pinky Amador, and Hazel Orencio.[9] It won the award for best sound for sound designer Corinne de San Jose and was given the Grand Jury Prize for Film, an honor it shared with Whammy Alazaren's Never Tear Us Apart.[10]
