Moonglow (2026)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- A jaded female police detective, who unbeknownst to her colleagues is the mastermind behind a successful heist, is paired up with an obsessively truth-seeking detective partner to crack the very crime that she orchestrated.
- Actors:
- Isabel Sandoval, Arjo Atayde, Dennis Marasigan, Janina Lorelei, Jhoanna San Juan
- Directors:
- Isabel Sandoval
- Producers:
- Alemberg Ang, Ria Atayde, Isabel Sandoval, Tan Si En
- Writers:
- Isabel Sandoval
- Aka:
- Moonglow
- Genres:
- Thrillers
Reviews (1) of Moonglow
Paid by the Cigarette - Moonglow review by griggs
I’m fairly sure Moonglow was written by ChatGPT. The prompt? Write a detective noir set in 1970s Philippines, throw in some Douglas Sirk melodrama, and ensure everyone smokes like they’re being paid by the cigarette.
It’s a film so desperate to look stylish that it forgets to be interesting. Every scene feels carefully arranged to remind us how sophisticated and seductive it all is. The cigarette smoke alone probably accounts for half the atmosphere and most of the running time.
I’ll give it this: the cinematography is gorgeous, and Isabel Sandoval clearly knows her cinema history. There’s even an intriguing story buried somewhere in there, involving police corruption and the Marcos dictatorship. Unfortunately, I found myself admiring individual shots while struggling to care about what was happening between them. The characters are so busy looking mysterious that they never get round to seeming human, and some of the dialogue is clunky enough that ChatGPT would ask for a rewrite.
Nearly two hours of immaculate surfaces. The cigarettes give the liveliest performance.