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When bloody zombies — creepily mouthing the words their human selves once said — gather outside your home, how far are you willing to go to protect your loved ones? Directed by Carlo Ledesma (The Tunnel), the zombie horror film Outside follows a family of four in the Philippines as they attempt to survive an undead outbreak that’s plaguing the country. But the longer they stay holed up in an abandoned house, the threats start coming from inside instead of out. The first-ever Filipino zombie film, starring Sid Lucero, Beauty Gonzalez, and Marco Masa, was co-written by Ledesma and Anton Santamaria (The Tunnel).

“More than anything, Outside is a story about family,” Ledesma told Netflix about the film. “It explores how a family could fall apart, and it played out my worst fears as a father.”

Stream it now.

Check it out at the top of this page.

A zombie...

In the opening of the film, national police service officers escort a vice mayor down the brutally desolate road that witnessed the true historical events of the Bataan Death March in 1942. The vice mayor begins talking about his family lineage, and the fact that he would not be here today if his elders had not escaped the grip of the Imperial Japanese Army. This first scene might seem confusing to viewers at first, but they will realize shortly afterward that it sets the tone for the remainder of the film. In “Arisaka”, Filipino director Mikhail Red explores layers upon layers of intergenerational trauma in what is essentially a classic revenge-action movie with thematic twists and turns.

“Arisaka” screened at Nfmla Monthly Film Festival – InFocus: Asian Cinema

As with many revenge movies, the plot is simple enough: National police service officer Mariano and her colleagues are escorting the vice mayor...

Exclusive: HBO Max has acquired streaming rights to the family film Brie‘s Bake Off Challenge, from writer-director Emily Aguilar, for release today.

The story follows Brie Hayes (Devyn Leah), an aspiring 12-year-old baker who does everything she can to win first place in her school’s annual Spring Bake Off Challenge. Brie and her Bffl Millie (Mallory Vertman) must practice and motivate each other in order to win. On top of the actual baking challenges, Brie faces her “archnemesis” and bully, Vanessa Weiler (Delaney Disque), who also wants to win first place. Pressures and tensions rise as the stakes get higher and Vanessa’s crush, Jody (Camden Zapf), is also competing to win. The winner of the Spring Bake Off Challenge will win a whopping 5,000 and tickets to Cosmo Land.

Emily’s Bake Off Challenge also stars Stefannie Smith, Pry’ce Jaymes, Isaiah Givens, Sandy Lisiewski, Tony Amante, Adam Cooley,...

It’s not wholly clear how much Filipino filmmaker Mikhail Red wants his latest thriller, “Arisaka,” to be more than a faithful retread of the kind of lean B-movie that used to star Sylvester Stallone and, more latterly, reinvigorated Liam Neeson’s career. And it’s also not clear why he would nurse such aspirations: It’s the very competence of the action sequences (some dodgy CG arterial blood spray aside) and the strict adherence to the gritty actioner playbook that leave a faintly sour taste when the film attempts even the mildest commentary on real-world issues.

. Her presence, plus Red’s rising profile following 2019’s “Dead Kids,” the first Philippine Netflix film, should guarantee a degree of local success for the project. But its relative blandness makes it a harder sell anywhere its survival-meets-vengeance hero’s journey feels like a well-trodden path. Which is to say, almost everywhere.

Mariano...