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Paul Emmanuel Enicola
Tomatometer-approved critic
Paul Enicola is an independent film critic based in the Philippines, and is a member of FIPRESCI and Society of Filipino Film Reviewers. His work can be found at The Movie Buff, The Asian Cut, and Movie-Blogger. Find Paul @PaulEnicola
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Only the River Flows (2023) |
The film’s plot becomes a little muddy at times, exacerbated by a runtime that frankly could have used some reduction to make for leaner pacing. - The Asian Cut
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| Posted Aug 01, 2024
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Ruby Sparks (2012) |
“Ruby Sparks,” in all its schmaltzy tenderness, is in reality a case study of the dangers of idealizing a person, and containing that person’s whole individuality based on one’s idea of perfection. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 31, 2024
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Breathe (2017) |
A moving film that examines the effects of a debilitating illness to the afflicted and their families, as well as the physical and emotional strains that come with it. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 31, 2024
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Marriage Story (2019) |
Here’s director Noah Baumbach at his usual best, lending a levelheaded perspective on a love on the rocks and the unnecessary vitriol born out of a couple’s disappointments and frustrations. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 31, 2024
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Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012) |
“Celeste and Jesse Forever” might have one of the corniest rom-com titles that I have ever come across. But boy, does it really know how to be sweet and charming and matured all at the same time. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 31, 2024
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F9 The Fast Saga (2021) |
This is a movie that openly engages the viewers’ sensation more than their intellect. And in that regard, the film largely succeeds. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 31, 2024
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Spirited Away (2001) |
It’s a testament to a passionate filmmaker whose voice transcends the medium, elevating animation to the realm of art. It’s also, in this critic’s opinion, Hayao Miyazaki’s undeniable masterpiece. - The Asian Cut
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| Posted Jul 31, 2024
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Following the Sound (2023) |
["Following the Sound"] examines the sound of grief, one that screams the loudest when no actual words are spoken. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 25, 2024
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Whale Bones (2023) |
Plays like a multifaceted story about loneliness and depression in today’s social media-driven world. There’s a tenderness to it that’s admirable, even if Oe struggles to combine the elements of his storytelling together. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 23, 2024
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Six Singing Women (2023) |
While its allegory of ecological and environmental abuse is a powerful message in itself, how Ishibashi presents it at times comes across as not only heavy-handed, but also problematic. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 21, 2024
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Oasis (2002) |
Explores themes of love, romance, and acceptance between two marginalised individuals while providing social commentary, and does so in a profound and oftentimes-unflinching way. - The Asian Cut
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| Posted Jul 13, 2024
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I Am Not Big Bird (2024) |
At a time when Philippine cinema sees a gradual de-stigmatization of the portrayal of sex on screen, films like “I Am Not Big Bird” should serve, not as a benchmark for the best it can offer, but as a jumping-off point for what’s ahead. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 13, 2024
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Longlegs (2024) |
Ultimately, “Longlegs” is the good kind of bad film: While it doesn’t stick the landing, it’s a film I would openly recommend to other people for the sake of the discourse it can generate. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 10, 2024
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Arzé (2024) |
Mira Shaib makes the audience understand the reasoning behind each flawed decision, making Arzé a multidimensional character that makes her more relatable, frustrating, endearing, and more human. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 09, 2024
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Good Boy (2023) |
Examines the overarching themes of accepting and embracing pain, and eschewing holding on to the past in order not to miss out on something new. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 09, 2024
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Fancy Dance (2023) |
With Lily Gladstone and Isabel Deroy-Olson leading the way, we are witnesses to a moving family drama about community, resiliency, and Native identity. - Movie-Blogger.com
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| Posted Jul 08, 2024
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Resynator (2024) |
At its core, this is a daughter’s love letter to someone whom the world knew as a Renaissance man ahead of his time, but whom she wished she’d always known as just ‘dad’. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 08, 2024
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Edge of Everything (2023) |
The result — questionable casting and safely played third act aside — is an interesting film that neither tries to be groundbreaking nor promises to solve its protagonist’s burgeoning angst. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 08, 2024
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Suze (2023) |
Ends up overcoming its rough edges and jarring tonal shifts to tell a good story of a mother and her dynamic with an unlikely individual. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 08, 2024
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Eternal You (2024) |
For a documentary film that dares to explore a timely topic that touches on the importance of ethics, providing some semblance of solution would’ve been better than simply leaving the moral complexities up to the audience to navigate. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 08, 2024
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The Three of Us (2023) |
Perhaps for Brodbeker herself, “The Three of Us” is pivotal to her own growth and transformation as a mother, wife, and a person. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 08, 2024
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How to Have an American Baby (2023) |
As a study of the complexity of the human experience in our globalized world, “How to Have an American Baby” is a compassionate portrait of women’s reproductive journeys, juxtaposed with traditions and capitalist desires. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 08, 2024
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What We See (2023) |
Eye-opening, patient, and urgent, “Tautuktavuk” is an evocative tale of healing from—and overcoming—trauma at a time of lockdowns and enforced isolations. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 08, 2024
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Hey Viktor! (2023) |
For what it’s worth, this film is a 100-minute rumination of what it really means to grow up. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 08, 2024
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Café Daughter (2023) |
A galvanizing reminder of the importance of embracing one’s roots–and forging their own path toward championing their identity. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 08, 2024
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Remembering Every Night (2022) |
With Yukiko Iioka’s camerawork here evoking her cinematography in 2021’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” this film becomes essentially about three women navigating their personal trials and tribulations in a place that seems out of time. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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Days of Happiness (2023) |
Who knew watching someone conduct an orchestra playing Mahler can be so cathartic? - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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A Road to a Village (2023) |
Tackling the themes of progress, tradition, and the indomitable spirit amid the changing of the guard; “A Road to a Village” is a philosophical inquiry into the human condition. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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A Man (2022) |
Ishikawa’s meditative direction makes up for the film’s deliberate, languid pace. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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Miranda's Victim (2023) |
If there’s anything the movie successfully pulls off, it’s that it reminded audiences of how good Abigail Breslin is. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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The Red Suitcase (2022) |
A very pointed examination of a sensitive aspect of a people’s culture and tradition that cleverly shows the ramifications of one’s desire to regain freedom and control. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic (2021) |
Poikolainen’s performance through clenched teeth moved me in ways that only a handful of films did in recent years. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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Where Is the Lie? (2023) |
There’s so much to like about ‘Where is the Lie?’ that it becomes an enjoyable, if at times tonally uneven, cautionary tale about the dangers of whirlwind relationships, especially in today’s technology-driven world. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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Onlookers (2023) |
Examines the effects of tourism in a country steeped in culture and tradition through a collage of video clips with almost no dialogue—giving the film an immersive quality that’s not only interactive, but also incisive. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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The Fabelmans (2022) |
Directing a story he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Tony Kushner, Spielberg digs deep into the recesses of his memory—and delivers 2½ hours of pure cinematic poetry in motion. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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Imaculat (2021) |
Inspired by filmmaker Monica Stan’s own experience, “Immaculate” can be hard to watch at times, and yet its honest examination of addiction is something the audiences can’t look away from. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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Night Ride (2020) |
Puts gender and identity, prejudice, and sexism front and center; and with Sigrid Husjord leading the way, director Eirik Tveiten nails it in smoothly sending the last train home. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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1489 (2023) |
“1489,” while a challenging film to watch due to its subject matter, is nonetheless an essential viewing. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 07, 2024
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The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2024) |
The film adds its main character into a growing list of ‘self-absorbed struggling writer’ movie tropes, but doesn’t provide more dimension to its characterization that helps leave a distinct mark. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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Eternal Playground (2024) |
“Eternal Playground” captures the intricate feelings of loss, companionship, and the bittersweet journey of growing up. There are moments that play it predictably safe, but fortunately nothing that takes away from its melancholic yet hopeful atmosphere. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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Emergent City (2024) |
Documents not just a local issue, but a reflection of the broader urban struggle between development and displacement, economic growth, and cultural retention. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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Group Therapy (2024) |
Points the floodlights straight to the need to talk about the state of mental health in our culture today, and how comedians are not exempt from the effects of it. I just wished it stuck to its guns and stayed faithful to the essence of its title. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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Linda Perry: Let It Die Here (2024) |
The film doesn’t interest itself with self-congratulatory platitudes when focusing on Perry’s life and career in retrospect. Instead, Hardy gives Perry the keys and lets her roam free to criticize herself, her family, and her mother.
- The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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Invisible Demons (2021) |
The lack of solutions to complete its arc can arguably be construed as an empty exercise of screaming into the void. For the majority of its runtime, nonetheless, “Invisible Demons” does its job, and then some. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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Aurora's Sunrise (2022) |
A harrowing story of a survivor whose experiences were one of heartbreaking proportions; and which deserve to be told, not only to educate about the past, but also to remind people that the evils of the past need never be forgotten. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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Stellar (2022) |
“Stellar” follows the familiar trope of ‘boy meets girl and they spend a whole night together’. But for what it’s worth, what sets it apart from mediocre romantic films that use the same plot device is how audacious it is. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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We Are Still Here (2022) |
Highlights the shared history of the people of their region. The result is a strong statement of resilience even, and especially, in the face of oppression. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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Return to Dust (2022) |
A profoundly sensitive and tender examination of human connection amid a worldview shaped by urbanization, cultural tradition, and societal expectations. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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January (2022) |
Succeeds in intersecting art, love, and war, in levels that even Tarkovsky might appreciate. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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Roving Woman (2022) |
The existential musings sometimes border on overt melancholy, yes; but they thankfully never overstay their welcome. And for a first-time director in Chmielewski, that’s an achievement in itself. - The Movie Buff
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| Posted Jul 06, 2024
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