Return of the Owl
A FILM BY Martika Escobar
PRODUCTION GRANT - SPRING 2018
Leonor Reyes was the only female writer of Filipino Action during the 70s-80s. Her life was her words, and the movies that were born out of it. However, her career died early after failing to finish the script of what was supposed to be her biggest project. Now, at 72 years-old, she lives in a cluttered apartment with her dusty awards, aged movie posters and middle-aged son, Rudie, who shall soon be migrating to the Big Apple for work and love. After a heated argument with Rudie and a visit from her dead son, Leonor eyes an ad in the newspaper: "Isapelikula - turn your words into movies". Finally, after so long, Leonor decides to write again.
Just before she is able to complete the script, a television falls on Leonor’s head, causing her to fall into an irreversible coma. While confined in the hospital, she gets transported into the film that is playing on the television. Leonor suddenly wakes up inside the world of a classic macho 1980s Filipino action flick, complete with all the clichés and tropes; and it is there where she becomes one of her characters.
Meanwhile, Rudie along with Valentin, Leonor’s best friend and the father of their dead son, take their own bizarre journey after they decide to sell her unfinished script to pursue Leonor’s dream and also to help alleviate her medical expenses. At the height of everything, Leonor’s body vanishes into thin air and the lines between her action fantasy and unforgiving reality begin to blur.