THE HALT
(ANG HUPA)
dir. Lav Diaz, 2019
276 mins. Philippines.
In Tagalog with English subtitles.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 – 5PM
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 – 2PM
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The Philippines, 2034: A world devastated by a pandemic, darkened by clouds of volcanic smoke caused by global warming, living under the thumb of a repressive dictator. Remind you of anything? Even if THE HALT premiered at Cannes in 2019, Diaz’ eerily prophetic sci-fi noir still more unnerving for its distressed portrait of society than the uncanny accuracy of its thought experiment.

At the root of this disturbing landscape is the senile military dictator President Navarre (Joel Lamangan), whose favorite hobby is feeding the bodies of drug users to his crocodiles and who plans on murdering all of the country’s political dissidents while blaming it on the raging pandemic. As a plot to assassinate Navarre slowly develops, the film offers a wide ranging mosaic people struggling through a world rife with brutality. Working with dozens of characters ranging from a gang of street orphans to an ex-rock star turned guerrilla revolutionary to a sex worker with an unquenchable thirst for blood, Diaz uses his measured, languorous rhythm to craft a portrait that layers its social commentary in observational richness and emotional depth.

With his lengthy runtimes and glacial editing speed, Diaz has long held a reputation as the king of what some have quickly called “slow cinema.” Boasting a 4 ½ hour-plus runtime, THE HALT is no exception to this eye-catching (and numbing) aesthetic approach. Hypnotic in its unique narrative rhythms and mesmerizing with its stark chiaroscuro cinematography which conjures up the dark psychological terrain of classic noir, THE HALT’s emotional and aesthetic power extends far beyond its aggressive political ambitions.

Special thanks to Lav Diaz and Spring Films.