From What Is Before

Lav Diaz's 2014 Filipino film is set in a remote village in the months before martial law was declared in 1972. Cries are heard from the forest, cows are killed, houses burn and nobody knows why; the villagers attribute it to the supernatural. The film runs five and a half hours and applies Diaz's usual form: black and white, long static takes, almost no music. Its idea is how a society is prepared for dictatorship; fear and uncertainty are enough to make martial law look like deliverance. It won best director at Locarno. Its length and pace ask serious patience. Who it's for: viewers interested in slow cinema and Philippine political history. Who it's not for: anyone who cannot contemplate a film over five hours, or avoiding violent and sexually violent content.