Honor Thy Father is exaggerated but impressive in some aspects especially with how it successfully heightened the stakes for the characters in order to provide the audience with probably the most gripping movie scene of the year by a filipino film.
A pensive John Lloyd Cruz in skinhead holding a gun is desperate to survive against all odds, a familiar struggle for “Honor Thy Father” as it dared to compete against big commercial movies that threatens its very chances to be shown in cinemas.
Director Erik Matti knows how to make an excellent suspenseful socially-relevant crime drama, from the gritty “On The Job” that tackles police corruption to “Honor Thy Father” which plot surrounds on an organized religion and a multi-level marketing scam.
“Honor Thy Father” lacks the speed and adrenaline that we expected based from Matti’s latest movie, “On The Job”. Instead, it gives its audience some short thrills, however, with a complicated and thrilling end. The musical score screams that it is an indie film (It’s actually annoying) betraying the glossy and commercial look of the film.
Unfortunately, reflective movies like this is an acquired taste. Being part of a movie festival is not an assurance for a captured audience. Moviegoers will not take the risk of wasting their 13th month pay watching an unfamiliar and never-heard before movie. More should have been done to highlight the movie’s best. “Kung mahina ka, kakainin ka nila.” Or, maybe, they can start with a better title.
7.5/10
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