Deleter

The film is about a content moderator named Lyra who begins to experience strange things at work after her colleague commits suicide.

The movie explores the work life of a content moderator. What they do alone is terrifying, I would've quit immediately if I even start to work in such job.

Anyway Nadine Lustre is really great in portraying the introverted Lyra, but her character isn't really explored much so I didn't really care much about her. Louise de los Reyes and McCoy de Leon are good as well. The other cast members could've acted better.

I was expecting a good movie after seeing the trailer.

The story started out good and interesting, with a few tired cliches here and there, but it later became dull to watch. The very slow pace makes it quite boring. The whole movie itself isn't very scary, except maybe for a very few scenes. The climax is really underwhelming, and the ending is unsatisfying.

What initially seemed like a fresh and innovative take on Philippine horror turned out to be yet another cliché supernatural revenge story. Deleter had all the makings of something unique-a psychological horror centered on the eerie and disturbing world of content moderation, an industry that exposes real-life workers to some of the darkest corners of the internet. The premise alone had the potential to explore paranoia, detachment, and the psychological toll of filtering out humanity's worst impulses online. Unfortunately, the film never fully commits to this idea, instead falling back on tired horror tropes that undermine what could have been a truly unsettling experience.

One of the biggest disappointments is how Deleter wastes its most intriguing element-its protagonist's profession. The job of content moderation itself is already horrifying in its own way, but rather than leaning into that psychological horror, the film takes a predictable route, introducing yet another vengeful spirit. There's nothing particularly compelling about Nadine Lustre's character, Lyra, aside from her being introverted and seemingly desensitized to disturbing content due to past trauma. But the film never allows us to truly understand her beyond that. She is written as an enigma, but not in a way that invites curiosity-rather, she feels like an incomplete character whose backstory is only vaguely hinted at.

Horror, at its best, is not just about ghosts and jump scares-it's about confronting deeper fears, exposing societal truths, and making audiences uncomfortable with realities they might prefer to ignore. Deleter had the perfect setup to explore themes of desensitization, digital morality, and the psychological decay that comes with constant exposure to horrifying online content. It could have examined the horror of the unknown-not in the form of a vengeful ghost, but in the way the internet warps our perception of reality, blurs the line between normal and depraved, and leaves lasting scars on those tasked with moderating it. Instead, the film takes the easy way out, using supernatural elements as a crutch rather than trusting the strength of its original premise.

Ultimately, Deleter feels like a missed opportunity. It had the chance to be a thought-provoking, psychological horror film-one that could have stood out in Philippine cinema as something truly different. Instead, it settles for familiar territory, offering surface-level scares rather than diving into the truly disturbing potential of its concept. If it had dared to push further, to trust its own premise instead of retreating into ghost story clichés, it could have been something far more memorable.

A content moderator experiences bizarre visions and nightmares after her co-worker dies. The aftermath of this death criss-crosses with the stress of her job and her own past. The first 30 minutes was good: dark subject matter, eerie atmosphere, appealing questions to answer. It was a fine setup. Sadly, the film went down from there but not so much as to call this film a failure.

The best part about this film is the rarely explored world of content moderation. We see here the trauma that workers in this field experience, how even though they try to disengage from the terrible videos they watch regularly, they can't. Watching just the snippets of these videos in the movie made me look away, and I can't imagine what these people go through. They tackled this well and that is the biggest reason why I gave this film 6 stars and not 5 or 4. I wish they explored and used this theme more than they did.

The acting, overall, was nice. There were scenes where I wanted more from the actors, but the positives outweigh the negatives. Also, I wish they used their characters more or gave viewers more information about them.

The atmosphere was creepy in the first half but downgraded from there. It would have been better if they went all-out and removed some background music. Also, the dark lighting of the film became tiring to the eyes as the film went on.

The biggest downside of this film is the mystery/reveal. That was a letdown considering the good setup from the beginning. They have something great and yet they chose a weak, uninventive answer to the mystery.

The ending was another letdown. It's open to interpretation but it was bad.

This film had an interesting subject, decent acting, and nice first-half atmosphere. But, the second half didn't hold up to the first one, especially with the weak mystery and bad ending. Still, I think it had some positives that Filipino horror filmmakers should build on.

I get why there are mixed reviews about this movie. The concept is new, it is not everyday that we get to take a look at a life of a "content moderator" - and an industry that not everyone is aware of yet something relatable since everyone uses social media. This could be why the reviews are kind of extreme. Some people really love it and some hate it. As a horror fan, i find it disappointing. Given the new plot and concept, it really has great potential but it failed to deliver. The slow pace, the failed build up of characters, problematic and illogical timelines killed it. I've seen this type of genre where it banks on psychological and eerie ambience which should have worked for this type of story but it just didn't for me. Probably because there are too many unnecessary scenes. I have to give it to the main actress (Nadine) for her acting and I totally admire her portrayal of the protagonist. If you are looking for a jump scare or unexpected twist then this is also NOT for you. The story apart from the concept is also nothing new and is very predictable. A wasted opportunity for a promising concept.

Having won the most major awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Sound, etc) and a number 1 Box Office spot in local and international Film Festivals are already enough reasons to watch this most talked about film of the year. It was so good that it reached international audiences and was extended to still be shown in cinemas the following year.

The plot was thought-provoking, catches everyone's interest, original and believable. What made it enjoyable to watch was the unexpected jump-scares & gripping scenes that turned the cinemas into a scary roller-coaster ride.

The themes and tone really matched the film with symbolism used in good taste.

The acting of the leading actress Nadine Lustre was outstanding breaking the mould of relying on love teams for a film's success, she surprised everyone with her acting chops displaying a different side of her in this movie. She had the challenges of having computer screens as her co-actors and carrying the entire film by herself.

The Direction, Score, Cinematography, Production Design, Special Effects and Editing were all world-class. It was indeed a masterpiece by the Red Brothers and Nadine Lustre.