Movie Review: "Segunda Mano"

First of all, as you know I didn't have high expectations from Segunda Mano. If you've seen the trailer, you'd think it's the same horror film. And when I say "the same horror film", I mean scary sounds with unexpected surprises. After all that's what Filipino is known for (Thank God we have Yam Laranas now who's challenging that status quo). Anyhow I still went ahead and watched (first MMFF I watched this year).


Synopsis (without giving away spoilers):


The story revolved around Mabel (played by Kris Aquino) who lives with her Mother (played by Helen Gamboa), who owns an antique shop, who has a bestfriend (played by Bangs Garcia) who happens to own a boutique of second hand (segunda mano) bags. It was in this store that Mabel bought her bag to impress her boyfriend Iva (played by Dingdong Dantes). Later did they know that this bag was owned by Mariela, ex-wife of Dingdong Dantes (played by Angelica Panganiban). As the movie continue, secrets start to be revealed, people start dying and Mabel start searching and finding out. 


Movie Review:


Story: Surprising twist always does the trick! From the trailer, I thought the movie is purely about the bag and about a dead woman running after people. Surprisingly  the movie blew me away with the unexpected twist. You'd end up glued to the movie screen not wanting to miss any scene. I just didn't understand why the sister didn't come back to her family and waited until she's dead. I think that was left unanswered. Aside from that though, it was a mix of love story (c/o BB. Bernal) and Psycho-Horror theme kind of movie.

Acting: For me Bangs Garcia was a revelation. If it wasn't for her  "shouting's" and panic  reactions, the movie would have been boring. She added the right element to compliment that somewhat boring acting of Kris Aquino. To be honest when it comes to scary scenes when Kris needs to be scares, she's a super star. But when it comes to normal conversations with her best friend or mom or boyfriend, I'm sorry but she's the driest of them all. Probably because she looks "forced" that it becomes not normal. Anyhow, Angelica Panganiban played her part well as always while Dingdong stepped up. He'd probably be the Best Supporting Actor of the festival. Mark My word, I think he will get it.


Award Predictions:


Dingdong Dantes may win the Best Supporting Actor award.




At the end of the movie, I left satisfied and entertained. 


Worth the watch.


Other Reviews:


Cinema Evaluation Board: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=760908&publicationSubCategoryId=96


Pinoy Movie Blog: http://pinoymovieblog.com/2011/12/segunda-mano-movie-review/