Hilom
2016 · 14m · Philippines
Directed by P.R. Monencillo Patindol
Genres: coming-of-age, drama
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
In a fishing village ravaged by a strong typhoon, the bond between twin brothers Andres and Gael is disrupted by another young boy.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Twin-brother intimacy disrupted by a third wheel in a typhoon village—sounds like restrained indie grief, and it probably is, which is exactly why I'm not picking it.
A formally composed study in fractured boyhood that understands the weight of typhoon-scattered spaces; the melancholy sits in carefully held frames that recall a lineage of Philippine cinema concerned with damage and tenderness.
Monencillo Patindol threads the bond between Andres and Gael through the weathered landscape itself—the decision to let the storm's aftermath become a character rather than backdrop is what transforms a premise about jealousy into something that actually breathes.
Reviews
Hilom/Still was short on dialogue and time yet still packed an emotional punch of childhood nostalgia, tenderness, and brotherly resiliency in the loss of trust in those around them.