Award-winning ‘Pamilya Ordinaryo’ in Cine Lokal’s July lineup

Almost a year after it premiered to great acclaim at the 12th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, Eduardo Roy Jr.’s Pamilya Ordinaryo (Ordinary Family) will be screened in SM theaters from July 7 to 13, 2017 as part of the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ (FDCP) Cine Lokal program.

Roy’s third feature follows Aries (Ronwaldo Martin) and Jane (Hasmine Killip), two teenage street dwellers-cum-petty thieves who go on a frantic search for their weeks-old son Arjan, who was kidnapped by a cross-dressing moneylender. During their search, the parents are constantly betrayed and humiliated at almost every turn.

Pamilya Ordinaryo received acclaim from both filmmakers and critics upon its debut at Cinemalaya. Ned’s Project and Water Lemon helmer Lem Lorca said in an FDCP statement that the film is “just as real as it gets, and that the more you think about it, the better it gets,” while Ilawod director Dan Villegas named it as “one of his favorites from 2016” and Ringgo: The Dogshooter filmmaker Rahyan Carlos called it “intense” and “gripping.”

Oggs Cruz, film critic at news website Rappler, wrote that “the film is most poignant when it puts its characters in situations where they are forced to act not out of nature, but out of shame, sorrow, or sheer hopelessness, all of which are traits and qualities that separate them from the animals that society has relegated them to be.”

In his review on the Click the City website, critic Philbert Ortiz Dy praised Roy’s “gritty, unsentimental direction” and noted that the film’s rawness allows it to reveal “a shade of humanity (that’s) far more moving than any sort of dramatic structure may provide.”

For his part, prize-winning poet and critic J. Neil C. Garcia wrote in his review on GMA News Online that Pamilya Ordinaryo “eschews didacticism” and noted that it “may not be the most visually—and given the plenitude of unprintable expletives and cuss words, aurally—pleasing film in (the 12th Cinemalaya), but it’s certainly the most complex and dramatically powerful one.”

Both Dy and Garcia lauded the performances of Martin and Killip. Dy called them “excellent,” adding that Killip “puts up a convincingly tough exterior that only occasionally gives way to reveal the painful vulnerability within” and Martin “gives ample heart to a character that could be seen as nothing but trouble,” while Garcia remarked that their performances are “entirely credible.”

Since its premiere, Pamilya Ordinaryo has earned awards here and overseas. It won five Cinemalaya Balanghai trophies, including for best film, director for Roy, and actress for Killip last August; the Audience Choice award at the 13th Venice Days competition during the 73rd Venice International Film Festival last September; best director and actress honors at the 47th Hanoi International Film Festival in Vietnam and the best actress prize at the 11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia last November; and best actor and actress trophies at the 12th Harlem International Film Festival in New York in early May.

Last week, highly regarded film critics’ organization Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (MPP) recognized it with nine Gawad Urian nominations, including for best picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay.

Pamilya Ordinaryo is rated R-16 by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). It will be screened at SM Mall of Asia; SM Fairview; SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, SM Southmall, SM Bacoor, SM Iloilo, and SM Cebu. Screening schedules are 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. Ticket price is P120. ALVIN I. DACANAY