Leonor Will Never Die

When a former film star, Leonor, gets clocked in the head by a falling television, she drifts into a world where dreams and reality collide. Wandering like a ghost in one of her unfinished films, Leonor confronts villains and assists friends in a world as far-fetched as her imagination. Concerned friends and relatives attempt to revive her from her dream-like state, but they also become transformed by her visions.

Winner of the Sundance special jury prize, Leonor Will Never Die is a heart-warming, funky, purely Filipino, and humorous tribute to the power of film, stories, imagination, and community. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival, midnight madness.

This is a gutsy film. It oozes an enigma I wish to see more in the local scene. I haven't felt this way since watching Dwein Baltazar's Gusto Kita With All My Hypothalamus.

It revisits a beloved era of PH action movies, its templates carefully recreated throughout. The one-liners, FPJ punch, the iconic 4x3, the warehouse endings, but even in its thoughtful tribute, Leonor Will Never Die veers away from one clear distinction in its inspiration; it is cleverly unpredictable. In a way, it sheds light on the path Philippine cinema has been headed; it is films like this that inspire future artists to dig deep and look outward.

Structured like a dream's dream. It is fluid, strong on one end, then breaks like water in some parts. My only gripe is that it has more potential; there is a classic craft in it somewhere that I wish the filmmakers explored-a hint of logistic limitations, perhaps, or time constraints. But anyway, you could sense that it was done as best as it could, like a dreamer's passion project.

Right, well needless to say that I hadn't heard about this 2022 Filipino movie titled "Leonor Will Never Die" from writer and director Martika Ramirez Escobar prior to actually sitting down to watch it.

But I will say that the synopsis for the movie definitely sounded interesting enough. And since it was a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance.

The narrative in "Leonor Will Never Die" was just beyond my liking. The storyline proved a bit too strange and far out there for my taste and preference. And while I managed to sit through all 104 minutes that the movie ran for, then I was only mildly entertained. It is a storyline that definitely blurs the lines between reality and fiction.

What made the movie bearable to watch was the acting performances. There were some genuinely good performances from the cast. And it was a cast that I wasn't at all familiar with.

"Leonor Will Never Die" is somewhat of a niche movie, no doubt about it. I didn't overly enjoy it, but I am sure that there is an audience out there for a movie such as this.

My rating of "Leonor Will Never Die" lands on a four out of ten stars.

I feel like this will draw a lot of comparisons to Everything Everywhere All At Once due to some of the similar "meta" themes, but I liked this more. It's a hard line to walk balancing both comedy and drama in a film without giving the audience whiplash, this movie simply handled it better.

Kudos to the director for achieving the authentic feel of a schlocky B-Movie from the 80's, it's something a lot of people try and fail to do. For half the movie I was convinced they just took some unknown film and edited around it.

It was a fun movie, a touching movie, and it left me with a smile on my face.

I am still feeling stoked after watching it. What a ride that was!! Damn!! The film brought me into different emotions and then smash it when i got a hold of it. Very Kaufmann and Beckett feels. It is like Chekovian experience as well. Great performances from Sheila Francisco as Leonor and Bong Cabrera as her son Rudie. Watch out for this gem of a film from the Philippines. Now, i need to see those 80's action movies from the Philippines. Any links?