Hintayin ng Langit (Heaven's Waiting): Movie Review

Photo courtesy of Hintayin ng Langit Trailer via Globeph Youtube Account

"Hintayin ng Langit" is a thought-provoking, moving, and emotional film featuring two veteran actors giving outstanding performances. If not for the sheer technical marvel, the simple yet lovingly-developed narrative should find its way to tug at your heart, mind, and soul.

Photo courtesy of Hintayin ng Langit Trailer via Globeph Youtube Account

Manolo (Eddie Garcia) has just died from a heart attack and finds himself in a hotel-like place in between Heaven and the mortal realm. In this place called The Middle, souls are given the time to accept their fates, move on from their loved ones, and wait until they are deemed ready to go to Heaven. By chance, Manolo is assigned to a room that has a current tenant who is set to leave soon - his ex-girlfriend Lisang (Gina Pareño) who has been stuck in The Middle for some reason for the past two years.

Photo courtesy of Hintayin ng Langit Trailer via Globeph Youtube Account

"Hintayin ng Langit" grabs your attention with its fantastic and clean visuals but it will make you stay with moving and powerful performances from its leads Eddie Garcia and Gina Pareño. Based on a one-act play, the film is heavy on dialogue but this never degrades into a bore fest - this is in fact the film's most powerful asset. The conversations between Manolo and Lisang felt authentic and rooted in real joy, real pain, and real love. These simple exchanges between former lovers reveal so much more about their past lives and how they dealt with moving on from each other and wondering what could have been if they never broke up. Beyond love, the film also tackles the concept of death and the in-between and the possible effects of being in eternal bliss against pain that we have never really thought about. We also loved the simplistic approach "Hintayin ng Langit" takes wherein it utilizes a few rooms and a hallway and yet the experience never felt constricting. Even with a simple set, Dan Villegas found a way to make each scene be full of life and emotions and little intricacies that help further develop the film's imagined world. The only negative we could really find is that the film had side characters that felt unnecessary and under-developed. We would have loved if the full focus was on Manolo and Lisang alone to truly deliver its full impact. "Hintayin ng Langit" surprised us with its unique concept and outstanding production but had us staying for its very powerful messages.

Photo courtesy of Hintayin ng Langit Trailer via Globeph Youtube Account

Rating: 4 and a half reels




Why you should watch it:
- superb acting and chemistry between the leads
- cinematography and set pieces are world-class

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the narrative had a bit of a slow down and side characters felt unnecessary

"Hintayin ng Langit" or "Heaven's Waiting" is available to stream via Netflix.