''Cavite'' is a 2005

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

in English and Tagalog, written and directed by

Filipino American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New S ...

filmmakers Neill Dela Llana and Ian Gamazon which also stars them as the film's leads.

Plot

Flying back to the Philippines to bury his father, an American man is informed by a mysterious phone caller that his mother and sister have been kidnapped and will be killed if he doesn't comply with certain demands. As he follows the phone caller's every wish, he slowly realizes that he is involved in a large conspiracy hatched by the

Abu Sayyaf Abu Sayyaf (; ar, جماعة أبو سياف; ', ASG), officially known by the Islamic State as the Islamic State – East Asia Province, is a Jihadist militant and pirate group that follows the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam. It is based i ...

Critical reception

''Cavite'' was met with largely positive critical reviews. The film has a score of 73% with a certified "Fresh" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 40 reviews with the consensus being it is "A gritty, low-budget thriller, ''Cavite'' takes us on a heart-pounding ride through the seedy Filipino underworld." Robert Koehler from ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' in his glowing review of the film said "For a guerrilla-style, no-budget Yank indie to even tackle issues of jihad terror and naive Western thinking is noteworthy in itself, but Gamazon and Dela Llana inflame the issues with a gutsy, athletic filmmaking package." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' gave ''Cavite'' a B+ declaring it "one of those blistering no-budget thrillers, like Open Water or Detour, in which the film's economy of means is the trigger for its ingenuity." Kevin Crust of the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

said "Though the film seldom deviates from its thriller format, Gamazon and Dela Llana astutely weave in matters of political, cultural and religious importance, elevating ''Cavite'' well above mere genre." Kirk Honeycutt of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' praised the film's directing saying that it's "Guerilla filmmaking at its finest." Dennis Lim of ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'' wrote in his overwhelmingly positive review is that as "a paragon of guerrilla resourcefulness and a model citizen of the global village, ''Cavite'' is a more anxious and vivid experience than most movies with budgets literally a thousand times bigger."

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, m/1162654_cavite?, Cavite 2005 films 2005 thriller films 2000s Tagalog-language films Films shot in Cavite Films set in Cavite Films about Filipino Americans Films shot in the Philippines 2005 multilingual films Cockfighting in film 2000s English-language films