Aurora

Kudos to the cinematography, but the plot, characters, theme and type of conflict are frustrating. The movie lacked a unique story line that did not take advantage of the setting.

Aurora: A Philippines horror film involving a ship wreck and ghosts wanting to go home. A coastal village has been visited by death in the form of a shipwreck, the remains of the ship are visible on rocks close to shore. Relatives seek the remains of their loved ones but many bodies are still missing, perhaps trapped in the wreck. The event has cast a dark cloud over the village, fishermen can no longer sell their catch, peope move to the city. Leanna (Anne Curtis) runs an inn, when the relatives of the victims leave she is without customers and links up with fishermen to collect rewards for recovering the missing bodies. But she and her young sister Rita (Phoebe Villamor) catch glimpses of strange characters, hear voices and even seem to make contact with spirits of the missing.

A slow moving film which might have benefited from a 15 minute cut in it's running time. However it was massive success in the Philippines, made for P$3 million, it took in P$100 million at the box-office. The ghosts are well imagined and appear to be seeking closure just as much as their relatives are. While not malevolent they will seize on to divers who approach the wreck. Ghosts appear in windows and flashbacks of the grounding of the ship are related through stories and visions. A cover-up may have taken place and the real cause of the shipwreck turns out to be even more frightening than any conspiracy could hope to conceal. Director/co-writer Yam Laranas delivers an engaging Ghost Story. 7/10. On Netflix.

This was the most drawn out life wasting experience of my life. What's also sad is, this could've been a tone better. I should've known from the beginning credits that something was WAY OFF. You'll know what I mean 😂

I stumbled across this by chance when I was browsing Netflix. Catching up on some Western horror films I'd missed that were recommended to me, Aurora popped up as a suggestion for me. I originally skipped past it before realising it was Filipino and I went back to it to watch the trailer. I've been looking to have my first films and dramas in each country on MDL so I decided to go ahead with Aurora being my fist Filo film after clarifying it was Filipino.

My Twitter friends said that it was hyped up in the Philippines but it was commonly held as a bit of a flop within the horror genre.

Now, Aurora is made and is meant to be a horror film. I went into it expecting to be a little spooked, not to a high degree because of the reviews I had heard said it was pretty bad. The few CGI effects to give this the horror theme completely tanked for me, and I won't lie - the horror is pretty bad. It doesn't hold its own as a horror film in any form.

However, the acting in this, the story behind it are intriguing. It kept me hooked in, it kept me rooted in my seat in pure curiosity. This is definitely a much more sad thriller than a horror film. I finished this feeling devastated, with tears in my eyes after the credits began to roll. The acting in this made this utterly amazing, the cast truly brought the feelings in this to life. It felt like this was currently happening in Asia, watching these families go through their loss and watching Leanna and her younger sister was going through hell. The music in this was as well amazing, it fits the film perfectly; there wasn't a single score in this that didn't help my emotions lift or drop alongside the story.

I think the best way to go into this film is to not expect a good horror film. Expect a sad, chilling thriller that is similar to many real-life occurrences around the world. Not as good as it could have been as a horror film, but definitely give this a try if you like sad films.

This film could have been so promising as it had a really good storyline, great acting and casting as well as cinematography but by the time they used the special effects in showing the big giant ghost, it just went all downhill! I guess the ship was already sinking even before the journey began.