The Woman in Unit 23B (2016) User Reviews

It Serves Its Purpose

[eliasmakaraig · 5/10 · 10 September 2021]

Initially, I am not expecting that much in this independent film but I could easily say that it slightly exceeds my expectation. The crown-jewel in this film, in my opinion is its cinematography, in which my favorite shots are the first bed scene and the wild transformation scene. The acting of Cenon and del Rosario is also good, considering that their characters are very introverted, resulting into some intentionally awkward, yet splendid scenes. But the.artist that truly shine acting-wise is Vangie Lablaban, which despite limited air-time, managed to greatly portray her character's personality and attitude.

Yet, there are aspects of the film that left something to be desired. The most spotable concern is the lack of detail regarding Jewel's background story, we all know that she's somewhat anti-social but there is no indication how and why she became a manananggal. Another inconsistency is the ending scene wherein, Nico goes with Jewel to leave the city, forgetting that her mother has recently died so who the heck will manage her funeral? Not to mention, how did these two easily escaped the apartment without does nosy people ever noticing them?

So to sum up, Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B is a passable film with some good acting but with flawed and shaky background storytelling to boost up its main character. It is far from the best independent film out there, but given its low budget, it certainly serves its purpose.

Visually Gorgeous & Clever

[ClariSays · 8/10 · 27 December 2017]

Before sharing my thoughts on the film, let's first tackle the fascinating creature that Filipinos love. The manananggal is an ordinary human female by day. When the moon rises, she performs a ritual which involves rubbing a certain type of oil on her waist and transforming her into a vicious, half-bodied monster with huge bat-like wings!

Yes, you read that right.

After the ritual, this creature of Philippine mythology and folklore would leave her lower body hidden in the bushes till dawn while her upper body flies off to search for food. They usually prey on pregnant women by sucking the unborn infant from the womb but eating human heart is also on their list.

Now let's talk about Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B.

The film started by showing what Jewel (Ryza Cenon) probably sees everyday as a human - the sky, the buildings and the streets. Then we were shown how Jewel lives her day - eating balut and feeding her pet turtle. During the first few minutes, we can conclude that Jewel is a shy person and doesn't want to be around people too much.

But when Jewel met and befriends her neighbor Nico (Martin del Rosario) and his grandmother (Vangie Labalan), we start to see more about her as a person. Plus based on the jokes she makes about her life and her actions, we can validate that she is indeed holding onto her humanity.

"Wala akong boyfriend kasi wala namang nagmamahal sa 'kin e. Masama akong tao, hindi mo lang alam." - Jewel, Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B

Honestly, I think this is the most "human" manananggal I have ever encountered in Philippine cinema. Yes, she still does the ritual I mentioned earlier as well as eat human hearts. But this creature is usually portrayed as mysterious and they don't try to hide that making them easy to be identified.

Despite that, I am not mad about this film's version as they made the character a bit more intriguing. It didn't even bother me that there was no explanation as to how Jewel became a manananggal. The audience just accepted it because the story and her character was very well put together. Besides, the film isn't really horror but more on romance.

It is also worth mentioning that there were some social commentaries cleverly inserted in the film. To hide the manananggal's feeding activity, Jewel places a sign on her victim's saying, "Huwag tularan Pusher ako" which is very timely.

Moreover, Jewel's transformation from human to monster is visually gorgeous. I must say, Ryza Cenon did a superb job. Since her GMA StarStruck days where she is the Ultimate Survivor of the shows second season, Cenon has grown so much as an actor. Have you seen her in GMA Network's Ika-6 Na Utos? She is great there as well.

A dark aesthetic audiovisual Romantic Horror

[me_josepaulo · 9/10 · 7 June 2018]

I rarely (if ever) see Romantic horrors appear on screen but this caught my eye, after getting into Filipino cinema recently after watching Netflix's Amo (2018), then Birdshot (2016) I started looking up more Filipino movies and saw "Ang Manananggal Sa Unit 23B and thought I would give it a watch.

Without getting into details, this movie achieves the perfect balance of romance, horror, drama and even light bouts of comedy (what Filipino movie doesn't?) It's aesthetically pleasing to the eye and has a great soundtrack. The two main leads Ryza Cenon and Martin Del Rosario play off each other as two likeable leads; both awkward introverted young adults who find solace in each other.

It's a top quality film that I'd highly recommend

Superb

[rfangz · 8/10 · 16 October 2019]

Wow! Such a great horror movie! The end is.. Cool ending! Love it..