Two films which are products of Manila-based festivals get their nationwide release this week (in Davao both are shown in a “slide” schedule in only one cinema): Mikhail Red’s Neomanila, Audience Choice winner at the 2017 QCinema International Film Festival, and garnering a Best Artistic Achievement for its cinematography, and the second, James Mayo’s Kuya Wes, an entry to the 2018 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival (the commercial release is supposedly a slightly different cut from the one which premiered at Cinemalaya). The two films are entirely opposite in terms of mood, the former is a dark, slow-burn crime thriller while the latter is a light-hearted romantic comedy that also functions as “delayed” coming-of-age story.
