Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

Kinatay

2009 1h 50m Crime Drama Mystery & Thriller List
75% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 65% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
A young man needing cash takes a job that pays well, not realizing that he has to kill a woman.

Critics Reviews

View All (8) Critics Reviews
Chris Chang Film Comment Magazine Wild sound, aided by the spot-on punctuation of the score, turns the two-dimensional, often murky rectangle of the theater screen into a seemingly boundless, infinitely dangerous void space. Call it four dimensions of terror. Jun 17, 2013 Full Review Sukhdev Sandhu Daily Telegraph (UK) Frankly, most people will find Kinatay either unremittingly tedious, harrowing or vile. Possibly all three. Mendoza is no gore-hound. He's more serious than Noe. This is a fiercely moral and horribly unforgettable denunciation of societal corruption. Rated: 4/5 May 17, 2009 Full Review Jay Weissberg Variety Mendoza strengthens his gift for describing space with inquisitive cameras, but as the helmer's star rises, his subtlety wanes, resulting in obvious statements made banal by heavy-handed ironies. May 17, 2009 Full Review Panos Kotzathanasis Asian Movie Pulse Despite the fact that many will find it appalling, as it seems to be the case with the critics that buried it, “Kinatay” is a brilliant film, which shows, once more, how violence can be used as a contextual medium Rated: 7.5 Apr 16, 2023 Full Review Rene Rodriguez Miami Herald An exercise in experiential cinema, as well as a blistering critique of a society that drives its poorest to unimaginable acts for mere survival. Rated: 3/4 Mar 10, 2010 Full Review Jean-François Vandeuren Panorama Kinatay demeure, certes, une exprience cinmatographique unique en son genre, et ce, bien des gards%u2026 Mais une exprience rate malgr tout. Rated: 4/10 Jan 12, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (31) audience reviews
Audience Member Not morally empty as many have labeled it -- it's really about the newlywed and his deciding not to act (note the focus on his shirt -- "Integrity Lost is Integrity Lost Forever" -- but the film's flaw is that much of it doesn't feel made by a skilled artisan. The cavernous interiors are often soundtracked by ominous dissonant music (ooh), the title has a sword cut through it, the film ends with a loud slam indicating its own self-importance. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member It's rare for Philippine cinema to have this kind of stories, dark and brutal. Salvaging has always been out there but somehow Filipinos tend to overlook this horrible crimes. On another note, it is like 'training day' on a different kind. I didn't like the rookie as a cliche protagonist of the film. As well as the dragging scenes. This could just be a short film for all its worth. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member More than the story's plot, you'd remember how you felt for Pepoy (Coco Martin) and how you felt almost the same feelings too. Although gruesome, you'd find it interesting that it doesn't hide the truth from you. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member a very quiet but powerful thriller, not everyones taste for sure Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Brillante Mendoza se da un gusto con el Gore en este film, La dirección es casi perfecta, la paradoja presente desde el inicio llama bastante la atención es verdaderamente inteligente, ambientada en una ciudad muy desordenada, donde el crimen es cosa diaria y recuerda a Colombia, este film va desde la critica social hasta las problemáticas morales y sentimentales humanas, pasando por el significado de la familia y la vida y muchas otras cosas... La larga agonía de la victima del crimen y del protagonista, crean una tensón constante que sin dudas hace al film bastante ameno, así como las largas esperas lo pueden hacer tedioso por momentos, Coco Martin nuevamente hace una muy buena actuación y Brillante Mendoza la mejor dirección de su fructífera carrera... Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member The film's emotional heart lies in the changes rung on Peping's face, from his carefree morning (he'd just been married in a lovely little civil ceremony to Cecille (Mercedes Cabral)) to his bored wait in the nightclub's parking lot, to his dawning realization that they're out on a snatch-n-salvage mission, where the person involved is a nightclub dancer and prostitute. It's a gradual process that mirrors within the length of the picture our own--how we hear faint rumors of vigilante executions; how these stories are repeated, with more detail and perhaps a more authoritative voice; how suspicions gave way to dismayed certainty; and how, after the epiphany, comes the knottiest question of all: what are you going to do about it? Perhaps some of the tensest moments in the film involve the choices Peping has to make--should he walk away, should he try help her, or should he stay for the ride? What do his decisions at these various points say about him as a human being--and us, since we are impicated by viewing the story through his eyes and ears? Even more than the possibility of the girl's survival (the film's title and details handed out by the film's canny publicity campaign (say, could all the negative reviews including Ebert's have been planted?) pretty much rule that out) we hope for some sign of resistance from Peping--an attempt to help the girl, comfort her somehow, some recognition on his part that she is a human being, a mother in fact, and that what is about to happen to her is monstrous beyond words. Speaking of monsters--the police officers are not presented as complex characters capable of change; instead, they are presented the way they are: weary and so desensitized by this job they need to buy beer and boiled duck eggs along the way to keep themselves entertained (a horrifying detail, I thought, that sets this particular vigilante execution apart from those set in, say, Mexico). If we are to find their closest cinematic equivalent we'll find them not in the films of Fernando Meirelles but in those of Michael Mann--lonely professionals toiling away at demanding work, perhaps not as supercompetent, but certainly as burnt-out and inexpressive and tired. Mendoza may have made Peping the film's heart, but its soul definitely takes cue from the police officers, from their crude, off-the-cuff way of handling things, even emergencies. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Kinatay

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Collateral 86% 84% Collateral TRAILER for Collateral Law Abiding Citizen 26% 75% Law Abiding Citizen TRAILER for Law Abiding Citizen Headshot 71% 48% Headshot Charlie Casanova 13% 41% Charlie Casanova Down and Dangerous 60% 26% Down and Dangerous Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A young man needing cash takes a job that pays well, not realizing that he has to kill a woman.
Director
Brillante Mendoza
Producer
Didier Costet, Ferdy Lapuz
Screenwriter
Armando Lao
Production Co
Swift
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Filipino
Runtime
1h 50m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)