For us, we have been coining certain films as pandemic films. Not because these films were made during the pandemic but these films were constrained by the pandemic in terms of its budget, cast, and physical locations they can shoot films. It doesn't mean that these films are designed to fail but with these critical limitations, creativity takes centerstage in crafting a well-made film. "Sa Haba ng Gabi" is definitely a pandemic film but unfortunately and unsurprisingly, it lacks that creativity factor. It banks to lure in viewers with its talented cast but with its headless narrative, it did nothing and it went nowhere fast.
Working for an actor-turned-senator, two housemaids (Kim Molina and Candy Pangilinan) manage the senator's mansion rest house on their own. But this time, the boss is on his way with his driver (Jerald Napoles). Unbeknownst to all of them, a zombie outbreak is happening across the world at the same time. Soon, all of them find themselves trapped as zombies surround the house. Can they find a way to survive the night and escape?
"Sa Haba ng Gabi" was a mish-mash of ideas that, without any unifying goal, all turned out to be noise. The most obvious of these was it was meant to be funny first and foremost and admittedly, this is where the film "might" shine for some. For us, its comedic style wasn't our cup of tea as most of it came from the actors making weird faces but the context of jokes were utter nonsense. Second, it was trying hard to be a satire to current political and societal issues. There's politics, the pandemic, corruption, and even rich vs. poor. But ideas were introduced in one scene or one line and completely forgotten completely devaluing what ever they were trying to point out. Third, the writing was simply bad and needed a lot of polish. There will be logical loopholes but these should be the least of your worries. If we could describe how it felt like watching "Sa Haba ng Gabi", the film had this shotgun approach wherein plot points, characters, and whatever random idea they had suddenly pops out of nowhere continuously. This film was less than one and a half hours long but this felt like a slog from the first scene to last. And pun intended, you'll probably have one long night when trying to watch this waste of time - so trust us when we say to avoid this mess.
Rating: Half a reel
Why you should watch it:
- if you like your comedy senseless and shallow, this might work for you on a basic level
Why you shoulnd't watch it:
- poorly written and lacks any vision or creativity
- banks on its talented cast but brings on nothing else
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