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From What Is Before

Play trailer Poster for From What Is Before 2014 5h 38m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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89% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 94% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
In 1972, a remote village in the Philippines struggles to accept the pronouncement of Ferdinand E. Marcos' Proclamation No. 1081.

Critics Reviews

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Clarence Tsui The Hollywood Reporter 12/07/2015
While not exactly a full-fledged magnum opus, From What Is Before hints at a new direction combining an unhurried visual pace and a more dramatic, forceful approach in tackling history and politics. Go to Full Review Justin Chang Variety 12/07/2015
[A] hauntingly beautiful new picture, which chronicles the gradual decline of a small coastal barrio in the Philippines in the final days before president Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law in 1972. Go to Full Review Eric Kohn IndieWire 12/07/2015
A-
Diaz's prolonged approach to storytelling is a tough sit with no easy payoff, but it enables him to cast a remarkable spell defined by a recurring sense of dislocation. Go to Full Review Oggs Cruz Rappler 07/19/2019
What Diaz has done is to distill centuries of the country's sorrows and agonies into a fascinatingly fractured narrative that will never ever leave you. Go to Full Review C.J. Prince Way Too Indie 06/13/2019
Diaz's style acts as a sort of teleportation device, slowly immersing viewers into his film's world to the point where it's easy to imagine living right alongside the villagers. Go to Full Review Sky Hirschkron The Film Stage 10/05/2018
C+
Given the film's detailed examination of a physical environment, the lackluster sound design is a bit surprising. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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12/22/2021 At five and a half hours long, Lav Diaz's masterpiece is full of layers that unfold slowly, sometimes it feels like a dream due to the captivating beauty of its images, others like a nightmare, due to the almost tragic events that loom over a community besieged during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Sometimes it seems fantastic, other times overwhelmingly real, so real that after a long journey at the end it will leave the viewer with an emptiness in the stomach, devastated by the misery of an entire town. See more 12/25/2014 Although technically flawed at times, Lav Diaz's "Mula Sa Kung Ano Ang Noon" is undeniably one of the best representations of cinema as a visual medium. This film, in its poetic and dreamy mood, creates a truly mesmerizing, unique and at times isolating experience. See more Read all reviews
From What Is Before

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Lav Diaz

Director

Perry Dizon

Sito

Roeder

Tony

Hazel Orencio

Itang

Karenina Haniel

Joselina

Reynan Abcede

Hakob
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From What Is Before

From What Is Before (2014) From What Is Before (2014) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In 1972, a remote village in the Philippines struggles to accept the pronouncement of Ferdinand E. Marcos' Proclamation No. 1081.
Director
Lav Diaz
Producer
Lav Diaz, Krzysztof Dabrowski
Screenwriter
Lav Diaz
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Filipino
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 23, 2018
Runtime
5h 38m