Leonor Will Never Die

Name: Leonor Will Never Die
Genre: Drama
Released: November 25, 2022
Duration: 101 min
Rating: 73
Cast: Allan Bautista, Anthony Falcon, Bong Cabrera, Dido De La Paz, Don Melvin Boongaling

2022

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Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews

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Leonor Will Never Die (US Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

Music Box Films | Release Date: November 25, 2022 | Not Rated

Starring: Allan Bautista, Anthony Falcon, Bong Cabrera, Dido De La Paz, Don Melvin Boongaling, Rea Molina, Rocky Salumbides, Ryan Eigenmann, Sheila Francisco, Tami Monsod

Summary: Leonor Reyes was once a major player in the Filipino film industry during its ragtag action cinema glory days, but now in her golden years, she struggles to pay her bills. When she reads an advertisement for a screenplay contest, Leonor begins tinkering with an unfinished script about a young man avenging his brother’s murder at the hand ofLeonor Reyes was once a major player in the Filipino film industry during its ragtag action cinema glory days, but now in her golden years, she struggles to pay her bills. When she reads an advertisement for a screenplay contest, Leonor begins tinkering with an unfinished script about a young man avenging his brother’s murder at the hand of thugs. After a falling television knocks Leonor unconscious and sends her into a coma, she finds herself inside her incomplete movie, re-writing and editing on the fly in a fantastical bid to complete the film while her body lies in limbo.… Expand

Director: Martika Ramirez Escobar

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 101 min

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Critic Reviews

100

RogerEbert.com Carlos Aguilar

Nov 28, 2022

With its low-fi pleasures of see-through ghosts and TV screens as portals, the film reaffirms how ingenious the medium can be in the grasp of the right artist. From one segment to the next, the mechanics of this adventure repeatedly astound us. Read full review

Robert Abele

Dec 8, 2022

As Leonor Will Never Die parties to its close, Escobar reminds us that while life is unerringly finite, cinema is the complicated, messy, riotous love affair that never has to end. Read full review

The Playlist Charles Barfield

Jan 29, 2022

In a film steeped in loss and grief, Leonor Will Never Die, as the title implies, is ultimately a beautiful, life-affirming celebration of the power of film and art to heal. Yes, even ‘80s action films. Read full review

Amy Nicholson

Jan 29, 2022

Escobar is after something deeper than parody. She wants audiences to question how fictional strongmen have been idealized as real-world saviors. Read full review

David Jenkins

Apr 6, 2023

Escobar’s go-for-broke handling of the material favours fun outtakes, flip humour and nostalgic hat-tips to the days when the Philippines had real gravitational pull as a hub for maverick genre enthusiasts wanted to parlay the beautiful/desolate surroundings into their scuzzy opus. And just when you reach the point where you think that Escobar has finally lost the plot, she crops up on camera and admits just that. Read full review

The Film Stage Soham Gadre

Dec 8, 2022

The self-referential material and multiple-threaded storylines tend to overstretch greater narrative. Yet Leonor plays with interesting blends of reality and fiction, borrowing from Filipino action influences to create a potent concoction of how inspiration might strike a writer’s creative impulses. Read full review

Simon Abrams

Nov 23, 2022

Francisco’s committed and surprisingly nuanced performance makes it easier to invest in the movie’s otherwise unexplained style of magical realism. Read full review

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Brent_Marchant

Dec 3, 2022

For creative types (especially writers), sometimes it’s all too easy for the lines between reality and their work to become blurred. Where does one leave off and the other begin? Indeed, can someone become so absorbed in a project that perspective becomes lost? And what does this mean forFor creative types (especially writers), sometimes it’s all too easy for the lines between reality and their work to become blurred. Where does one leave off and the other begin? Indeed, can someone become so absorbed in a project that perspective becomes lost? And what does this mean for those who care (and worry) about the artist? Those are the dynamics at play in this quirky, thoughtful comedy-drama about a retired screenwriter (Sheila Francisco) who has experienced her share of heartache during her life and has now fallen on hard times during what are supposed to be her golden years. She longs to complete an unfinished work, an action film reminiscent of those frequently made in the Philippines in the 1970s, with elements similar to those also found in classic martial arts and Blaxploitation pictures of the era. However, while in the midst of writing, she experiences a freak accident that leaves her in a coma – and her consciousness in the middle of her script as one of its central heroic figures, a sudden, unexpected appearance that befuddles the characters she created. But, as her adventure plays out in her mind, her family and friends can only look on and wonder what, if anything, they can do for her – that is, until these two different worlds somehow manage to become intertwined with one another. And, as these two parallel yet interwoven stories play out, a curious mix of synchronicities, kooky laugh-out-loud moments and metaphysical insights into the nature of existence all begin to emerge (sometimes simultaneously), providing viewers with much to ponder and plenty to chuckle over. Writer-director Martika Ramirez Escobar’s multiple-layered debut feature is an absolute delight, one that tells a hilarious yet perceptive tale, a challenging narrative combination to pull off as successfully as it is here, an accomplishment comparable to what was achieved in such other 2022 releases as “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Strawberry Mansion.” What’s more, this offering is a campy yet lovingly reverential homage to the cheesy action flicks it so capably and intentionally mimics in terms of its clichéd camera work, trite dialogue and sloppy technical elements (like out-of-sync vocal dubbing). Admittedly, the film begins to drag a little in the home stretch, but, as a very deserving Independent Spirit Award nominee for best international film, this is must-see viewing for those who appreciate unexpectedly profound subject matter served up with a healthy slathering of unrepentant kitsch.… Expand

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