Kinatay

As an allegorical trip down into filipino-catholic culture of self-inflicted pain, this film takes us to hell. Be warned. Kinatay (meaning ”butchered”) tells the story of a newly married police recruit, Peping, who’s drawn into an underworld darker than he (and we) can imagine. Director Mendoza was awarded the prize of Best Director at Cannes in 2009, and Kinatay trails from a lyrical portrait of Manila to a nightmare of imploded morals. As a genre piece, the film concludes the torture porn trend of the 00s – after Kinatay films can’t really be dark again. Karsten Meinich