The horrors of the West in the opinion of the East Stubbornness, temper and pride
They grew up with him day by day.
He, in the depths of his soul, hid his conscience.
He hastened to leave his mother with his father.
He is tired of the advice of his friends.
From the rules of how to try to live
In the desires and actions of low
He didn't want to judge himself.
Behind the simple picture of the middle hand of horror, a deep form of allegory. This is how you want to characterize the “Acacia Motel”. Here, like a magician, there's a double bottom box. The first level, quite familiar "fruit cocktail" of horror stories for a high school student - the passion of fears in the moderation of screams and screams. Unexpected, for an advanced moviegoer, frankly, not enough. But the second layer of the “pie” is clearly for a person trying to move the convolutions at least occasionally. Figurative thinking, implicitly, gradually, in itself, begins to conduct a dialogue. And twists and twists the gray matter in the skull in the clue. Why? How? Why not? Minutes to the tenth or fifteenth catch yourself thinking that the author put in the plot not just a story about “eaten alive” or there “roasted without consent”, but a little bit – the anger of the day of the Filipino-Malaysian-Indonesian stratum people. Which one? Get out of the country. To leave our native penates forever. To exchange East for West.
And the genre of the film is horror, already certain uncertainty of its being in a foreign land. You're a migrant. You're a foreigner. You're a stranger. Who needs you here... Horrible! Your horror before you. Do you even realize that? If so, reap.
A forest castle in the depths of Europe. What is it? Sweden? Denmark? Finland? Motel among the rocks with age-old coniferous giants. Which country is unknown. There are no identification marks or instructions. Is the director dark? Nope. Most likely, for him, any place on the map of this very Europe is... here. Really, who cares? Filipino kid JC comes here. Our mission is to help migrants coming from the East. Compatriots. Simply put, my brothers and sisters. In a foreign country... City Council trustee. Father - a shoulder of support, experience in business. A transshipment base? Kind of quarantine, right? Yeah. Almost. Only a ticket for a happy tomorrow is not provided for the unfortunate. They're meant to stay here. Forever. How so? Here's the thing.
What does the director show us in the allegory of fun? Snow in contrast to the Philippine heat. The “dog” cold is the reverse side of the Indonesian sun. Indifference, neglect, cynicism for a foreigner who paid for shelter, comfort, food ... Underground bunker concrete box without exit from it. Trap. Prison. Shrine. Do you belong here? Nope. You're being pushed. You have no right. No documents, no guarantees. You don't have tomorrow. And the coming horror is only aggravating your situation. This is what you were torn from your native place, for which you were called here.
Is the author limited to this? I guess not. JC's dad is European, but his mom is Filipino. Children of mixed marriages, what is their future, is almost another vector for asking questions. Eastern woman and Western man are the relevance of the relationship. The ending of the film is eternal betrothal in offspring.
What is he, this Western man? Take a look at Jan Beivut’s character and the answer becomes obvious. With a beard, without a beard, everything is the same. And this is probably how one should perceive one of the initial scenes of a personal “barrier”. Evil is evil. Evil is always evil. With facial hair, without it, what does it matter? And firmness, toughness, unceremoniousness in the manifestation of character, frightening.
Since I talked about Jan Beivut, it is impossible not to note, once again, the amazing organics of this actor. The face itself is the imprint of vice, the embodiment of dark, cold. He again "The Troublemaker" (2013). He throws himself again in "The Embrace of the Snake" (2014). He is once again ruthless as in "Blood of God" (2018). And what is surprising again "roofs" the institution away from civilization as in "Hotel for suicide"(2019) and this is still without "Zoo"(2018)... Thank you for the "Acacia Motel".
What else is remarkable? Countries declared by the film producer. Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore... Croatia. Funny? That! It's not Hollywood. It's rare.
7 out of 10