Filipino-Australian filmmaker Matthew Victor Pastor has been prolific in recent years, with “The Neon Across the Ocean” marking his ninth feature since 2011. Once again tackling themes of Filipino-Australian identity in what is the first entry in his so-called 2020 Trilogy, the director somewhat misses the mark in what is a dull and meandering affair.
Mandy (Waiyee Rivera) is a Filipino-Australian teenager living in the not-too-distant future of post-pandemic Melbourne. The teen has a strained relationship with her parents and feels distant from her heritage, never having ventured to her mother’s home country of the Philippines. We wander with Mandy as she adjusts to life in an isolated world and juggles everything from familial struggles to blossoming sexuality.
Starting with the positives, there are elements of Pastor’s film that are sporadically enjoyable. Much of the night-time cinematography that opens the movie and runs sparsely throughout, makes for some striking images of the neon-lit,...
Mandy (Waiyee Rivera) is a Filipino-Australian teenager living in the not-too-distant future of post-pandemic Melbourne. The teen has a strained relationship with her parents and feels distant from her heritage, never having ventured to her mother’s home country of the Philippines. We wander with Mandy as she adjusts to life in an isolated world and juggles everything from familial struggles to blossoming sexuality.
Starting with the positives, there are elements of Pastor’s film that are sporadically enjoyable. Much of the night-time cinematography that opens the movie and runs sparsely throughout, makes for some striking images of the neon-lit,...
- 7/17/2021
- by Tom Wilmot
- AsianMoviePulse
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