An
estimated 10% of the Philippines’ population works outside of the nation. Many
such domestic and home-care workers have found themselves in exploitative
situations. In Evelyn’s case, her employers’ treat her pretty fairly and
respectfully. However, their karma is truly terrifying. Past anguish and
lingering guilt metastasize to an uncanny extent in Xia Magnus’s Sanzaru, which premiered at the 2020 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City.
Home-bound
Dena Regan and her grown son Clem, a discharged veteran, live in the middle of
East Nowhere, Texas, literally a world away from the Philippines. Yet, it is a
decent paying gig for Evelyn, especially since they also allowed her to bring over
her son Amos when he got into trouble at school. Technically, he has always
known as his aunt, even though he has long suspected the truth.
Dena’s
relationship with Clem is probably even more awkward, because of the family’s
mysterious history. He still suffers from some serious service-related PSTD,
but he is probably even more haunted by whatever it is they never talk about.
The name “Sanzaru,” the Japanese word for the see-hear-and-speak-no-evil
monkeys, ominously looms over the house. In fact, Evelyn can often hear a
spectral entity whispering that name.
Sanzaru easily fits within
the new “elevated horror” rubric. There are absolutely no cheap jump-scares,
but the atmosphere of decay is almost stifling. To be honest, the limited
woo-woo special effects look like they were rendered in the 1980s—the early
1980s, but they are not the point. Instead, Magnus unflinchingly depicts the
consequences of trauma on individuals, families, and even the outsiders who
enter their orbits.
Shrewd
viewers will probably easily guess the family’s hidden shame, because it is
usually the big secret in films like this. Nevertheless, it explores its themes
with unusual humanism, especially for a genre(-ish) film. This is most notably
true with the character of Clem Regan, who demonstrates how the demarcation
between victim and villain is sometimes quite blurry. In fact, his Job-like
suffering ultimately makes him an acutely sympathetic figure—no doubt Justin
Arnold’s remarkably sensitive performance is a tremendous help in this respect.
Arnold
is indeed terrific as Regan and so is Aima Dumlao portraying Evelyn. They also
make each other even better in several deeply poignant scenes they share
together. Jayne Taini and Jon Viktor Corpuz are both perfectly cast as Dena
Regan and Amos, respectively, but the inner struggles of Evelyn and Clem and
their relationship overshadow everyone else in this intimate chamber nightmare
drama.
Although
Sanzaru tells a radically different
story, its tone is not so different from HBO’s Stephen King limited series, The Outsider. The two moody tales of
dread illustrate how tragedy compounds over time and cycles of victimization
repeat themselves. Highly recommended for fans of arthouse horror and indie
cinema, Sanzaru screens again
Wednesday (1/29), after premiering last night at this year’s Slamdance.
