Aguruphobia

Richard Montes, 'Aguruphobia', is a film that makes you laugh but once the film is over, you find yourself thinking about the film and it's themes. There is a wonderful energy to the film. It's outrageous, gaudy, clumsy, preachy, bawdy, bizarre and is a political protest and a pop-culture explosion. It's a vibrant community mural of a film. Along the way, the execution of the narrative gets muddled, but there's no denying that this risk-taking film has a pulse. A strong pulse. Playful and piteous, touching and tragic, full of sound moral judgment and thigh-slapping wit, it's a film of sharp intelligence examining social ills that will, one fears, never entirely change. The film doesn't always work, but it's a film that dares to take chances. The performances are strong across the board, in particular it's star Jade Puga, who carries the film.