A SCENE from the film Nelia — YOUTUBE/NELIA MOVIE

MMFF Movie Review
Nelia
Directed by Lester Dimaranan

STYLED as a horror flick, Nelia, actually a suspense film, has more to it than meets the eye.

A haunted room in a hospital has been claiming more victims. Every patient who has entered Room 009 comes out dead. Perhaps it’s a comment on the times, but the body count has almost become common and is shrugged off by almost everybody. A nurse, Nelia, tries to solve the mystery of the cursed hospital room.

(Spoilers ahead)

Can you really blame me for thinking Nelia was a horror film, when flashbacks about the dead patients feature them in dark rooms, ghostly makeup, and with scary music? It turns out to be a whodunnit, for the deaths are actually attributed to something less supernatural. It did a good job of throwing me off the scent, as well as being a good-enough twist, if one ignores the plodding first half — the film picks up its stride in the second half, though for the purposes of the surprise, one couldn’t exist without the other.

The film is also disproportionately steamy, with me counting some three sex scenes before the one-hour mark. No matter, the cast is quite attractive, so maybe watch this for that.

There is something quite off with the leading lady, Nelia (played by beauty queen and showbiz daughter Winwyn Marquez). Perhaps it’s director’s jitters, but the horny colleague Anna (played by Ali Forbes) has more screen presence than the leading lady. Sometimes, I found myself looking more at Nelia’s huge, out-of-place handbag (It looked like a very large Dior; I don’t know if that was a plot point) than observing Nelia herself. Raymond Bagatsing, playing the head doctor, with experience and screen presence and all, surprisingly doesn’t quite dominate the flick.

Still: the plot is thick enough, but it isn’t quite perfect. It’s an exploration of mental illness (whether or not this element was deftly handled is a question beyond my reach), corruption, and the medical industry, but unfortunately, a very shallow take on death and the value of a human life (I mean, surely, with a high-enough body count set in an industry that saves lives, that should surely be a consideration). However, the gaps in the plot can allow you to fill them in with your own explanations, which kind of makes it more fun. —  Joseph L. Garcia

MTRCB Rating: R-13

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