Oras De Peligro Movie Review: Unfortunately, Joel Lamangan’s movie is a rushed, panicked job that tries to teach the Filipinos so quickly that it forgets to be artistic.
Movies are a powerful way to talk about important social issues. But if it doesn’t make the viewer feel something, the message is lost. Today, especially in the Philippines, where the government doesn’t censor art, political, or propaganda films can be as brave as they want without losing their artistic value.
Unfortunately, Joel Lamangan’s angry and preachy Oras de Peligro is a rushed, panicked job that tries to teach the Filipino people but doesn’t care about art.
If it makes someone feel something, it’s because of how they already feel about politics and how they see the world. But without any political bias? It’s surprising that a director with a lot of experience made something so bad.
Only a few people in the cast act normally, like Therese Malvar, Alan Paule, and Elora Espano, who are always good. Most of the actors, including the main character Cherry Pie Picache, do bad or bad-at-best work, which makes it hard to watch the whole movie.
Over-the-top Acting and Simplistic Plot Fails to Deliver Political Message
Picache is dramatic and over the top. Her baby-crying scenes are especially painful to watch. She gasps her words in short bursts, but it’s so fake that it reminds me a lot of Kyle Rittenhouse’s famous crying on the stand during his 2021 trial.
No, it’s not the civil unrest in the real-life setting of the film, which takes place in the days before the People Power, that bothers me. It’s the amateurish acting and the way it talks down to its audience.
Oras de Peligro is about a family from the slums in 1986, just a few days before a bloodless revolution took down Marcos. Beatriz, the mother, is a simple maid played by Picache. She is upset that her husband, Dario, played by Allen Dizon, is involved in civil disobedience. As a mother who cares about her family’s safety, she tries to keep her family from getting involved in politics.
In the movie, ALLEN Dizon and Therese Malvar play a father and a daughter.
Malvar, her daughter, is reading “dangerous books,” but there is a picture of her flashing the peace sign in a frame on the stairs. Could she be a secret Marcos supporter?
But after a couple of corrupt Metrocom employees kill Dario in a brutal way (they are idiots because they could have just taken the money Dario gave them without shooting him in the heart), Beatriz slowly learns the value of justice and the need to fight against oppression.
Oras de Peligro shows footage, the front pages of newspapers, and amateur dramatizations. The video is something we have seen many times before. Also, most of the clips show that the Catholic Church doesn’t care about the separation of church and state and is very involved in politics.
Critique of “Lam-Ang”
In the almost two-hour runtime, Lamangan and his screenwriters Bonifacio Ilagan and Eric Ramos made sure to cover all aspects of Martial Law, such as police brutality, poverty, prostitution, and strikes, in a way that is easy for the audience to understand.
Some of the characters argue with each other in the movie, but the ones who support Marcos are so stupid and dull that it throws off the balance so much that it loses its point.
People look like they have modern haircuts, skinny jeans, and shirts that don’t go with the time. Some of the women’s hair is dyed, which shows that this movie doesn’t care about how it looks.
By the 40-minute mark, I was already having a hard time with this movie, which seemed like it was made by a group of elementary school students (ironically, she is hyperventilating from distress, but her hands are very steady when she dials on the rotary phone). The juxtaposed footage is what makes you more resilient, but you can find this on YouTube.
Since you don’t know much about Beatriz’s family, it’s hard to feel sorry for them. They are a one-dimensional family that is used as a plot device and as a stand-in for the people of the Philippines during the Marcos regime. Beatriz goes from being shy to being “woke,” which was to be expected.
Critique of the Movie Oras de Peligro and Its Message on Martial Law
People from all walks of life go to EDSA People Power. There are people who are really upset, people who are looking for miracles and want to sell their suman, and people who just want to have fun. This makes the film’s message even less convincing.
The rich group of Jessa (Mae Paner) and her minions are a strange place to find cringe-worthy humor, especially when they start their long “Mambo Magsaysay” dance number. At this point, I was already so sad that I wanted to cry inside.
Oras de Peligro seems very pointless, preachy, and badly written. It also has one of the worst performances I’ve seen in a Philippine movie.
Its hidden message, which is told by Malvar’s character, is that being angry isn’t enough; we have to do something about it. This seems to call for a revolution today. One wonders why: Are we being ruled over today?
I don’t think anyone is trying to say that the abuses that happened during Martial Law were not real, because they were real. Many activists and their families are still hurting from what happened, and these wounds will never be forgotten.
History doesn’t always repeat itself, and getting angry today, when you are free and not being forced to do anything, can only hurt you.
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There are better modern movies about the victims of Martial Law, such as Respeto (2017), and okay ones, such as Liway (2018) and Barber’s Tales (2013).
Final Words
Joel Lamangan’s Oras de Peligro is a rushed, panicked job that fails to deliver a political message due to amateurish acting and a simplified plot. Beatriz learns the value of justice and the need to fight against oppression in Lamangan’s “Lam-Ang”. Oras de Peligro is pointless, preachy, and badly written, and its hidden message is that being angry isn’t enough; we have to do something about it.
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