‘Honor Thy Father’ earns good reviews abroad
The John Lloyd Cruz-starrer “Honor Thy Father” got positive reviews upon premiere in this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Directed by Erik Matti, “Honor Thy Father” is about a couple who discovers they have invested in a sham scheme.
In a review posted on TIFF’s official site, author Steve Gravestock described the film as “a suspenseful story of betrayal and retribution, a drama about familial reconciliation, and a commentary on the tenuous nature of newfound wealth.”
He noted that Matti is “one of the most assured directors to emerge from the Philippines in the last two decades.”
Gravestock commended the director and Cruz for holding the film together.
“Matti's fluid, skilled direction and the tightly wound performance by Cruz, whose Edgar – disgusted by the greed and hypocrisy he encounters – seems always on the verge of exploding,” he said.
Hollywood reporter Harry Windsor said Matti is “a dab hand at excavating the fault lines extending across his country’s social and economic demarcations.”
“That he does so in the guise of a thriller bodes well for his latest’s commercial prospects beyond the festival circuit,” he added.
Windsor described the film as “a flinty portrait of inequality and vigilante justice in the modern Philippines.”
“Honor Thy Father” was intended for this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) under the title “Conman” but it did not make the cut.