GOING OUT ON THE ROAD

GOING OUT

Nobody leaves The Road

Text by Tessa De Guzman

Three teenagers out on an illicit joyride; two young women indulging in some sisterly bonding; a promising police investigator determined to prove himself. What do they have in common? Traversing Yam Laranas' timeless, bucolic The Road, they all discover that, once here, "Nobody leaves".

The first episode begins closest to our present time. Police investigator Luis (TJ Trinidad) is awarded a medal of valor. A grieving mother (Jacklyn Jose) approaches him to probe deeper into her children's 12-year disappearance. He is puzzled that his fellow investigators dismiss her. Why?

Still in this timeline: harmless teenage hijinks spiral out of control when Janine (Lexi Fernandez) and her boyfriend Brian (Derick Montaserio) steal Janine's worse-for-wear family car for a nighttime spin. Wary of Brian and protective of Janine, younger Ella (Barbie Forteza) chaperones; though they are not sisters, Ella seems to enjoy a favored ward-like status in their house and is brought along as a useful "shield" should the teens run into trouble. Though it's not what they anticipated, trouble promptly ensues—the moment they make a turn to a lonely country road surrounded by endless black.

The next episode, ten years earlier, revolves around a young man (Alden Richards), a troubled relationship with an old house, and a sudden encounter with two sisters (Rhian Ramos and Louise delos Reyes).

The final episode takes us to the very beginning ofThe Road's journey: a simpler time in a small town, where it's perfectly run-of-the-mill to go out para manood ng mga paru-paro (to watch butterflies) and a young boy to have a surreal, isolated upbringing filled alternately with magic and madness.

I won't say any more about the movie here except to give my own thoughts. The Road rests comfortably in the genres of light Asian horror and heavy drama. I say light because—I won't deny it—I'm a horror film lightweight, and yet I managed to watch most of this film not through my hands, hair, or the filtering fibers of my sweater. As for the heavy drama—I keep thinking about the familial/interpersonal dynamics that really, more than anything else, propelled this film surely and steadily to its strange conclusion.

Many of the seasoned actors deftly hurdled their own star-hood to deliver memorable, resonant performances. Newcomers held their own, particularly the chillingly still Alden Richards. The best moments occurred with minimal or no dialogue, when feelings and meanings were imparted through looks and nuanced gestures. There is also an unforgettable scene when two female protagonists realize they are in danger. Here, the film shines in a detached portrayal of horror, unique to my eyes.

It's a great piece of episodic storytelling. The opening credits were refreshingly graphic and very interesting to watch. The film's soundscape, most crucial to this genre, is masterfully executed with the right levels of silence and ambient noise to recreate this unsettling sensation of being alone yet not alone. Punctuated by sudden, orchestral assaults which are expected but effective nonetheless—delivered with brio by Johan Söderqvist of Let The Right One In.

As we go further and further back a decade at a time, Yam Laranas' moody cinematography colludes with time-neutral production design and costuming to make this all feel somehow like a lost memory. This being Yam Laranas' third horror film in a row, I would be very interested to see him explore and lend his perspective on the human drama to other genres.

Perhaps the most frightening thing about The Road is how familiar it all is, because we've been there: on our way somewhere else, at an ungodly hour, we found ourselves down a bumpy road illuminated only by the arcs of our headlamps, our fears thriving in the overwhelming darkness beyond; any second now, we might chance upon a woman walking by herself, or a creepy house half-hidden by a garden wild with neglect; the car might stop, there's no signal, and you don't dare look in the rearview mirror. 

The Road is produced by GMA Films and is now showing in theaters nationwide.