Leonor Will Never Die – A Unique Meta Drama (Early Review)

First of all, there aren’t many films out there like Leonor Will Never Die and it should be commended for it. This Filipino feature dazzled audiences at both the 2022 Sundance Film Festival where it premiered and this past Toronto International Film Festival among other festivals. When it comes to a genre, the film can’t be put in a box as it admittedly jumps around all over the place in a kind of meta or experimental way that will almost certainly not be for everyone. Despite this, it still works thanks to a boatload of heart. Offering a little bit for everyone, the film is somehow an ode to cheesy 1980s Filipino action films and a compelling story about family and grief that comes together in what was truly an entertaining and heartfelt watch that can’t quite sustain its ambitious meta premise all the way until the end. Nevertheless, what holds the film together is a powerful lead performance from Sheila Francisco as the titular Leonor. She is the undisputed heart of the film.

Leonor Will Never Die follows a retired action filmmaker named Leonor (Francisco) for whom after falling into a freak coma, becomes an action hero in her unfinished screenplay of another cheesy 1980s action film. Losing herself in the stories she creates, film was an escape from the real world much to the chagrin of her son Rudy (Cabrera) who can only watch as he struggles to keep it all together. Meanwhile. film was also a means for Leonor to express herself and make sense of the world, however, that also made her blind to what was happening around her, including Rudy’s plight as they were both grieving the loss of Leonor’s son and his half-brother Ronwaldo (Anthony Falcon). When it came to the film within the film, it was ridiculous and so over-the-top, not to mention violent, but the parallels with the real world drama were there. While each film had its own distinctive style, the way the film weaved back and forth between each was interesting to watch. Though as it went on, that formula started to break down and wasn’t as necessarily seamless.

The plot of the film within the film was essentially irrelevant but it was still a blast to watch. An authentic so-bad-that-it’s-good, cheesy Filipino action film created by Leonor told from her perspective was a participant made for a fun twist. That being said, looking it at it from above proved to be very different from being a part of the action as she would learn the longer she was a part of that world. Becoming self-aware, Leonor found more active in the story. Thinking she knew what was going to happen at any given time, this soon was not quite the case as she was faced with finding a way to finish this story as well as her own. Rudy found himself in a similar situation, finding a way to wake his mother from her coma. Ultimately, film was a refuge for most of her adult life therefore it would need to be the answer, more specifically, finishing Leonor’s movie. As these two storylines converged, it gets a little tougher to follow as a whole. In spite of this, the emotion still comes through even though it was somewhat muted as the film succumb to its ambition in trying to tie it all together. The end will however confound.

In the end, the best part of Leonor Will Never Die was the aforementioned powerful lead performance from Sheila Francisco as Leonor. In the face of all the ridiculousness, she grounds the film with her humanity. A mother to her children and the characters she creates, her loving nature is consistently on display even though she may not always go about it the right way. But underneath that loving nature is plenty of layers of pain for which she uses film to escape until she could no longer do so. Her arc was a roller coaster that pulls in audiences early and doesn’t let go. Other than Francisco, Cabrera was a delight as Rudy while Salumbides was a great leading man in the film within the film.

Leonor Will Never Die is a nice surprise and while it may not all work, it is definitely one of the most unique experiences this year.

still courtesy of Music Box Films

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.