Victoria Lansang is a popular news reporter who has been requested to mediate a hostage crisis. And in front of a national television audience, something horribly goes wrong and people are killed while Victoria suffers a mental breakdown. A year later, she’s eager to get back into the game. However, the only assignment she can get is to do a documentary on the last night of The Diplomat Hotel in Baguio City, a crumbling and abandoned building infamously known for its bloody past and its hauntings. Looking for redemption, she arrives there with her crew and they start filming. But as they get deeper into the night, the place starts to exert its will on them and they find out exactly what monstrous evil awaits at The Diplomat Hotel. By daybreak, their lives will never be the same again.
DIRECTED BY:
Christopher Ad Castillo
MAIN CAST:
Gretchen Barretto, Art Acuña, Mon Confiado, Joel Torre, Nico Antonio, Sarah Gaugler (TURBO GOTH), Channel Delatorre, Brooke Chantelle, Abe Pagtama, Alvin Anson, Luchie Maranan, Carl Alexander Acosta, Karen Navarette Anton, Miel Riley Ribon, Evangeline Flora, Mica Panis, Michelle Panis, Jennylyn Samiana, Mark Anthony Marquez, Whammy Alcazaren
CREDITS:
Written & Directed by - Christopher Ad. Castillo
Executive Producer - Josabeth Alonso
Co-Producer - Orlando Estillore
Producer - Alemberg Ang
Production Manager - Maxie Cuangco Evangelista III
Dop - Dexter Dela Peña
Production Design - Whammy Alcazaren
Art Director - Frances Grace Mortel
Editing - Carlo Francisco Manatad, Crio Sarchez
Music - Denise Santos
Sound Design - Ray Andrew San Miguel, Drew Milallos
Field Sound Recordist - Ray Andrew San Miguel
Director Benito Bautista (The Gift of Barong, HARANA) refashions true stories of Manila’s taxi cab drivers into an ominous, unpredictable ride from the dark streets of Manila to the isolated hills of Antipolo.
It’s only a few days before Christmas in Manila and struggling cab driver Limuel needs to reach his boundary (quota of customers) by the end of the night. He picks up a wealthy-looking, generous business man trying to make his way to Antipolo. But Limuel has a plan for his naïve and unsuspecting customer – a plan that he is none too proud to carry out. Things suddenly go beyond Limuel’s control as he himself is thrown from the wheel to the helpless backseat of a plot bigger than he ever expected.
Power. Deception. Morality. Desperation. The intrinsic human conflict of navigating the fine line between power and ethics can have unforeseen consequences when one starts to get too close to either side. Bautista artfully finesses these concepts while commenting on the grim issues of class and political strife that Filipinos are all too familiar with. In this claustrophobic taxi ride through the gritty streets of Manila, it is hard not to feel the tension, fear, and uncertainty these characters experience, and suddenly we’re fellow captives strewn along the captivation plot.
–Written by Maryanne Bilbao, San Diego Asian Film Festival
Gemini. 2014. Philippines. Directed by Ato Bautista. With Sheena McBride, Brigitte McBride Bonus, Mon Confiado. In Filipino; English subtitles. 83 min.
Julia is tormented by old demons. When she looks into the mirror, she sees not herself but her identical twin, Judith. Speaking to a detective, she recounts memories of interdependence, twin rivalry, and a gruesome murder. Switching between black-and-white and color imagery awash in a chilling bluish tone, director Ato Bautista takes us on a hallucinatory ride through a mindscape filled with mysteries and trauma. Real-life identical twins Sheena McBride and Brigitte McBride Bonus put on stellar performances as the indistinguishable Julia and Judith in this bloodcurdling tale of twin horror.