Triptiko (2017) Movie Romance | Review Triptiko

¨“Movie Synopsis¨“

A yuppie who just got lucky is struck by a string of unlucky circumstances; a male model's life is upended because of evil boils appearing on his body; a folk singer's romantic ideals are put to the test as his beloved slowly changes into something he does not understand. These three funny, sometimes absurd, sometimes terrifying, and ultimately compelling stories make up "Triptiko."

Special Movies: Kean Cipriano, Kylie Padilla, Albie Casiño, Joseph Marco, Jerald Napoles, Arthur Acuña

Country : Philippines

Genre : Comedy, Romance, Thriller

Production Co : Barrio's Pictures, Michelena Brothers Production

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Life throws us so many curveballs that sometimes, we are left reeling. Even then, we need to take a step back to reassess. It is not any different in the Movie Triptiko (2017). Directed by Mico Michelena, Triptiko is a trilogy of unrelated short films featuring outlandish stories that leave the audience squirming in their seats.

“Swerte,” the first story, features Albie Casiño as Jake. After getting lucky one night, Jake experiences a series of bad luck. Casiño’s character had very little time for development, leaving the audience frustrated in trying to understand his reactions throughout the film.

“Hinog,” the film’s second story, stars Joseph Marco as Jason, a male model plagued by the growth of mysterious boils. The sudden illness prompts him to seek help through unorthodox methods.

Marco’s portrayal of Jason, who is pompous and selfish throughout the film, can be described as awkward at worst and respectable at best. Jason’s expressions were not genuinely embodied by Marco, which made his character execution fall flat.

If “Swerte” focused on possible real-life experiences, and “Hinog” on Filipino mythology, “Musikerong John,” the third and last story, is undoubtedly the most bizarre of them all. Nevertheless, the story can be described as lyrical and even poetic, especially with the choice of folk music as main soundtrack.

Kean Cipriano stars as John, while Kylie Padilla plays Ann, John’s significant other. Their acting in “Musikerong John” is commendable. The lines and expressions seemed to have come naturally to Cipriano. Despite her lack of speaking lines, Padilla portrayed Ann’s instability with superb and genuine acting.

Some of Triptiko’s scenes seemed dragging, with majority of the shots having dark lighting. Though it did add an ominous feel in some shots, the shadows were mostly placed in awkward spots that made it hard for the audience to see the actors’ faces and expressions.

Overall, Triptiko is a thriller that keeps viewers on edge, delving into the realms of the physical, mythological, and even the impossible. 

Minsan ang buhay, medyo weird (Sometimes, life is weird) says the tagline of Miguel Franco Michelena's anthology Triptiko (2017). According to writer and director Michelena, the Movie is a Filipino pop culture version of triptych, which is a set of three associated artistic, literary, or musical pieces intended to be appreciated together.” In this movie, he assembles three separate stories with different genres to form a one of a kind anthology. Being a fan of anthology movies, I was definitely excited to see this one. The first story of the film follows a young man (Albie Casino) who thinks he just got "lucky" suddenly experiences one unfortunate circumstance after another. Next is a male model (Joseph Marco) on the rise is plagued by a mysterious ailment that turns his career upside down. And a love-struck folk singer (Kean Cipriano) discovers that the object of his affection (Kylie Padilla) is not who he thinks she is. The film is produced by Michelena Brothers Production in association with Barrio's Pictures and features an ensemble cast, led by Albie Casiño, Jerald Napoles, Joseph Marco, Art Acuña, Kylie Padilla, Kean Cipriano, Max Eigenmann, Jay Gonzaga and Pinky Amador. It has been Graded A by the Cinema Evaluation Board and is an official entry to the 2017 Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino.

The first segment entitled "Suwerte" stars Albie Casino as Jake, a young man who thought that he just got lucky with a girl he had a one-night stand with. But after witnessing a murder happening right before his eyes, he becomes the target of the murderer. The story attempts to redefine our perspective of luck. For me, this segment maybe the most bad-ass story among the three. More akin to a chase movie, it mixes shock and thrills while we follow the plight of Jake as he falls into one bad luck to another. To his credit, Albie Casino did a pretty decent job as the main character. He was believable as a young man in peril and was able to portray the role convincingly. Jerald Napoles was really fun to watch and did a great job in his role.

In "Hinog", the second segment of the film, we are introduced to Jason (played by Joseph Marco). He's an up-and-rising product endorser and ramp male model. But the problem is that his body is being plagued by boils that eventually affects his career. Determined to be cured of his ailment, he ends up consulting a shaman to help him find out the true nature of his sickness. This segment seems like an attempt of the body horror genre (horror fiction in which the horror is principally derived from the graphic degeneration or destruction of the physical body. Such works may deal with decay, disease, parasitism, mutation or mutilation) in the tradition of  David Cronenberg and Brian Yuzna. And to be honest, this was my most favorite segment in this anthology.

Joseph Marco was really good in his portrayal of the sick Jason. One can really see and feel his character's desperation through his acting. Art Acuña was also fun to watch as the trippy shaman from whom Jason asks for help regarding his ailment. Aside from these characters, what made me enjoy this segment even more was the unrelenting portrayal of the ailment, from the unapologetic close-up shots of the infection that will make you puke. These gross-out moments came in fast and unexpected and really caught me off-guard. To be honest, this is the first time I felt like I was about to throw up while watching a movie. I was biting my hand the whole time while watching Jason and the shamando their own extraction. This is the probably the most disgusting and repelling story I've seen in a local film, yet I enjoyed it so much that I am so attracted to it. Plus, the ironic ending was the perfect way to conclude the segment, though I kinda felt bad for one of the characters. To me, this segment was the most memorable one.

The third and final segment was a bit different from the first two segments. This story, entitled "Musikerong John" is about John (played by Kean Cipriano) a folk song musician as he relives the memories of his last relationship. The girl, named Ann (played by Kylie Padilla) was the girl of his dreams. The one that he thought he would be spending his whole life with. But then, one day, she starts acting weirdly. Little did he know that she was already turning into something he'd never imagined. I loved all the songs that Kean Cipriano performed in this segment (they were written by Ralph Lorenzo Tan under the pseudonym "I"). He also did a good job in his portrayal of the heartbroken musician. He shares great chemistry with his co-star, Kylie Padilla who also surprised me with her outstanding performance. Of all the three stories, this segment probably has better storytelling and editing. The story shifts from the present back to the past smoothly. The pacing started to slow down in this segment for us to focus on the tension brought by these changes to the relationship of the two characters.

As a whole, Triptiko works because each segment offers a unique emotional experience to the viewers as we jump from one story to another. It's like our very own local version of 

 George A. Romero and Stephen King's Creepshow (1982). Each of the stories, weird and trippy. I actually loved how they open each segment with a quote that is related to the story. The film boasts a well-written screenplay, mixed with some great acting and direction. Though there were a lot of moments that were a too darkly lit which was a bit hard to watch. The film looked good during it's outdoor scenes, but a lot of the indoor moments were very dim and I had a hard time adjusting my eyes to see the character's expressions. Despite that, I enjoyed this movie a lot more than what I have expected. It maybe too extreme for some of the average moviegoers and a lot of people might be repelled by it's content but it's actually a great movie once you get past that.

Triptiko is an out of this world movie experience. It's a psychedelic mind trip: it's mad, freaky, and totally messed up. I've never seen quite anything like it in local cinema for the past years. For me, this movie is already running as one of the best Filipino films of the year 2017.