Nilalang


Nilalang or Sonzai-sha is a 2015 Filipino action horror film directed by Pedring Lopez starring Cesar Montano and Maria Ozawa. It is an official entry to the 2015 [Metro Manila Film Festival|2015] Metro Manila Film Festival and was released on December 25, 2015. Nilalang is about a local forensic expert who teams up with an heiress to a transnational organized crime syndicate originating from Japan.

Plot

special crimes division agent Tony encounters an evil entity which is bent on killing and torturing beautiful women, one of which was his girlfriend, years after he thought to have killed the spirit. People close to Tony are placed in danger, including his partner Jane, who has a romantic interest towards him with everyone in the agency aware of this fact except for Tony.
The spirit, who has killed many people in Japan, is thought to be targeting women from a certain clan of samurai. In Manila, Miyuki takes care of the family business while her younger sister Akane is taking care of their aging father. Miyuki is later forced to help in the investigation regarding the murders after Akane goes missing and their father is found dead to put a stop to the entity's killing spree.

Cast

Main cast

Casting

was supposed to be Ozawa's leading man in this film but due to his wife Mariel Rodriguez's delicate pregnancy, he decided to back out to take care of his wife.

Release

Nilalang released its official trailer on October 12, 2015.
The film was released in the Philippines on December 25, 2015, Christmas Day, as part of the annual Metro Manila Film Festival.

Awards

The film won 5 awards during the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival including Metro [Manila Film Festival Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography], Metro Manila [Film Festival Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Visual Effects], Best Editing, Best Musical Score and Best Sound Engineering.
AwardCategoryRecipientResult
41st Metro Manila Film FestivalBest Supporting ActorDido de la Paz
41st Metro Manila Film FestivalBest CinematographyPao OrendainWon
41st Metro Manila Film FestivalBest EditingJason CahapayWon
41st Metro Manila Film FestivalBest Visual EffectsPedro Chuidian & Rommel PambidWon
41st Metro Manila Film FestivalBest Production DesignMimi Sanson Viola
41st Metro Manila Film FestivalBest Make-up ArtistRichard Carvajal & Alice Soro Collara
41st Metro Manila Film FestivalBest Original Theme Song"Greyhoundz Lions"
41st Metro Manila Film FestivalBest Musical ScoreJessie LasatenWon
41st Metro Manila Film FestivalBest Sound EngineeringDitoy AguilaWon

Controversy

Pullout from cinemas

After a day of screening, some cinemas started pulling out the film in favor of the two other blockbuster hit entries of the festival, My Bebe Love and Beauty and the Bestie. From a total of 40 theatres, the number of cinemas showing Nilalang went down to five. Because of this, the producers appealed to moviegoers and theatre owners to support the independent film the same way that they support the mainstream films of the festival. After this, the hashtag #DemandForNilalang became a trending topic on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, as interested movie goers urged cinema owners to screen the said film. After a few days, many theatre owners started including the film in their cinema line-up to give way to the public's request.