I liked Cinemalaya's Edward (Surprisingly)

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What else are we bound to do these days of lockdown asid from eating? Watchng movies of course. Thank you iFLIX (became a VIP while I was in house arrest due to COVID19 lockdown).

I am inspired to blog about the Cinemalaya's Edward becuase I liked it. Not that it is perfect, but I liked it because it was entertaining despite the hard reality backdrop.

The film tells of the coming-of-age of Edward set in the public hospital. Not appealing, right? But it takes a good director, a good script, right casting to pull it off.


First, the casting is all flawless, even those who are in pedestrian roles only. Of course, the main character, Edward and his bestfriend and his crush.

Second, the movie's storytelling got me because it has is just enough humor and drama. Not too long, not too short. Just enough to bring home the message.

Third, sad plight is depicted. It makes me ask if that really happens to public hospitals. For someone like me who is not in the medical field or has not experienced a public hospital like the one in the film, I would surely question whether the setting is realistic. The caretaker sleeps under the patient's bed if one is in the ward and they sleep outside under the waiting shed or vacant space within the hospital's vicinity if their patient is in the ICU. it was really a sorry condition for indigent families who can't afford accommodation while attending to their patients.

But as I mentioned, it is not a perfect film. If there is a disappointment, I would say that it is in misinformation regarding Pulmunary Tuberculosis or PTB. As I can recall, the DOH has been trying to inform everyone that PTB is an easily treatable disease and as I can recall, doctors can pretty easily diagnose PTB from sputum for a day. In the movie, it took two weeks to have the sputom examined and for the doctor to diagnose that the father of Edward is suffering from PTB. Moreover, this two weeks is on top of the fact that the patient was to be discharged earlier in the film but was only readmitted when he had diffcult breathing hile walking out of the ward. In addition, PTB is a contagious disease too. In the movie, there is no precautionary measures against its spread was practiced. Thre was no isolation, no masks worn by te caretaker or the patient.. After the diagnosis, the doctor assured that the proper medication can be administered and the patient is going to be well. But worse, the patient got ill and was put in the ICU. I wished it was just Lung Cancer, not PTB, because a layman like me cannot be convinced by how the PTB story developed.

Okay, I can willingly ignore that part and give 3 stars to Director Thopnazareno and his team. 

Well, artistically this is a wonderful film but sadly, this cannot be made as a PTB info campaign material but as saving grace, it can surely be an artistic material for a campaign to uplift the patient's condition in public hospitals. 


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