Isabel Sandoval, who wrote and directed Moonglow, a retro-style film noir that premiered in competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, goes back to her Philippine roots. Set against the backdrop of Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship in 1979, the movie stars Sandoval as the cunning femme fatale Dahlia. It mixes sultry romance, corruption, and classic crime tropes.
Sandoval is known for her groundbreaking Lingua Franca, which was the first film by a trans filmmaker of color to be shown in Venice’s main slate. She makes Moonglow with moody cinematography by Isaac Banks that turns Manila into a vibrant, betrayal-filled noir playground. Dahlia’s robbery of police chief Bernal Marasigan sets off a scandal that includes arson to clear slums. This is similar to Chinatown and Wong Kar-wai’s romantic fatalism.
The story brings Dahlia back together with her ex-boyfriend Charlie Atay, a lawyer who has just returned from the U.S. to investigate the crime. This brings back memories and tension similar to Out of the Past and Double Indemnity.
Moonglow is beautifully shot in an old-school style, but it focuses more on simmering passion than pulse-pounding suspense. The visuals are beautiful, but the pacing is slow and the dialogue is flat, which makes it less gripping. Even though there are some amateurish parts, Sandoval’s dual role as director and star gives the film real energy. Instead of focusing on gender issues, the film follows a timeless femme fatale arc that is similar to Joan Crawford’s.
This slow-burn crime romance gets praise for its ambition and Filipino storytelling, which shows how Sandoval’s skills have grown since her TV roles in “Under the Banner of Heaven” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
