I must admit that when I sat down in 2021 to watch the 2018 movie "When the Storm Fades" that I had expected a bit more entertainment from what I was in for here.
But what "When the Storm Fades" turned out to be was a slow-paced story about the aftermath of a nasty typhoon having struck Tacloban in the Philippines. Now, don't get me wrong here, because I am not saying that this was a boring or bad movie, no, no. But it was a rather slow-paced and uneventful movie. And it sort of felt like I was sitting through someone's home video footage at times.
The movie takes place in the aftermath, but there isn't much of any aftermath going on throughout the course of the movie in terms of rebuilding or reconstructing what was demolished 3 years before. Instead, we get to watch two very out-of-place Canadians stumble about the local residents and the Barangay where they are supposed to be helping out. Not much of any helps actually, which was sort of tragically funny in a way.
In terms of acting performances, well I will say that the movie was nicely enough acted by those involved, but it was hardly outstanding performances, nor memorable ones.
"When the Storm Fades" does leave you with some insight into the tragic aftermath of a natural disaster and how the rest of the world just idly stands by without offering much of any help in terms of practical help, financial help or emotional help So on that account then writer and director Sean Devlin actually managed to do well enough.
This 2018 movie wasn't really what I had expected it to be. Sure, it was watchable, but it was hardly something that I would recommend you rush out to get your hand on. It is something you watch once and then never again, and probably something that will not remain long in memory.
My rating of "When the Storm Fades" lands on a mediocre five out of ten stars.
