Leonor Will Never Die Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Leonor Will Never Die Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 5, 2023

A friend of mine who is a professional musician working in an (sorry for the pun) under sung genre is currently petitioning the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to add a category to the Grammy Awards to account for that genre, which as I mentioned to this individual is both kind of sad and hilarious, given how many categories the Grammy Awards already have. In somewhat the same situation, many film festivals have an almost absurd amount of prizes they hand out, and in that regard Leonor Will Never Die took home an accolade that few have probably ever even heard of, the Special Jury Prize for Innovative Spirit that was handed out at Sundance. Leonor Will Never Die has also either been nominated or outright won any number of other lesser known prizes, including the Toronto International Film Festival's Amplify Voices Award and a glut of other similarly "niche" recognitions that at least point out the fact that this first feature from writer and director Martika Ramirez Escobar has achieved a certain renown, at least from the "elites" who typically attend these types of events. How much Leonor Will Never Die will resonate with general audiences at large may still be a somewhat debatable issue, though Escobar herself is on hand in some supplements on this disc overtly mentioning the evidently rapturous response she's received from audiences at various screenings, though my hunch is at least some of those exhibitions probably took place in Escobar's native Philippines, where some of this film's peculiarities are probably more instantly accessible.

Leonor Reyes (a towering performance by Sheila Francisco) is an elderly Filipino woman who may be getting just a bit senile, as evidenced by her forgetfulness surrounding paying a long overdue electric bill, something that sends her son Rudie (Bong Cabrera) into something of a mini tizzy. Meanwhile, there appears to be a ghost of some kind hanging around the Reyes household, keeping a watchful eye on things and occasionally engaging in a little quasi-poltergeist activity, as in turning on a fan in Leonor's bedroom which in turn blows a newspaper basically into her lap, where she reads about a screenplay writing contest. It turns out that Leonor is something of a writing legend in the Filipino film industry, though her "glory days" are well into the past. Suffice it to say that the advertisement of course piques Leonor's interest, which is where this already decidedly odd story becomes even more convoluted and unabashedly "meta".

In what might be seen as a kind of riff on elements seen in any number of properties ranging from Sherlock Jr. to The Purple Rose of Cairo, a head injury to Leonor "allows" her to enter the film she has been working on finishing for the contest, an "old school" action adventure outing that Escobar mentions is an homage to a certain type of Filipino film which is, according to Escobar, so well known to Filipino audiences that they can basically recount not just plot lines, but lines of dialogue from various films in this particular genre. This "film within a film" may remind some of any number of martial arts entries, where a quest for vengeance sparks the dramatics. However, Leonor's sudden "appearance" in the story of course sends things hurtling into unexpected directions.

The film ping pongs back and forth between this supposed action film and "real life", though there is more than a hint of magical realism wafting through both storylines. Escobar helps to delineate things with some changing aspect ratios, but even that conceit tends to become slightly blurred (no doubt intentionally) as "reality" and "illusion" themselves begin to bleed into each other. Leonor Will Never Die is in at least some ways sui generis, even if some aspects of its plot are definitely reminiscent of other films, though its Filipino characters and settings give it a decidedly "exotic" ambience a lot of the time. Escobar's reach may exceed her grasp, especially in the film's somewhat chaotic third act, which Escobar herself admits was more or less tacked on to things after she had assembled what she assumed was her final cut.

Leonor Will Never Die Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Leonor Will Never Die is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1, with the "film within a film" at 1.35:1. According to the IMDb, both Panasonic and Red cameras were used, and with the Red capturing at a source resolution of 6K, I wouldn't be surprised to find out this had a 4K DI, though as I'll discuss there are still some peculiarities about this transfer that may undercut detail levels at times. This is a highly stylized presentation, as can probably be gleaned from some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, and there are moments that look like artificially sharpened video and others that have a decidedly gritty to the point of looking noisy "old school" appearance. But what instantly struck me was what look like aggressive gamma levels in some of the "real life" sequences that tend to have a kind of milky overlay on the image (see screenshots 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8 for just a few examples). Because at least passing moments of this transfer do not have this situation, or at least not quite as noticeably, perhaps it was part of some overarching stylistic choice, though it probably unavoidably depletes fine detail since contrast is so anemic. The "film within a film" sequences have a more robust palette overall, but also a much more textured, almost pixellated at times, appearance as can be seen in a number of other screenshots (4, 9, 14 and 15, among others). I personally would have preferred a more naturalistic, less milky, look for the "real life" sequences, but overall my score is 4.25.

Leonor Will Never Die Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Leonor Will Never Die features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 audio options in the original Filipino, though I have to say if you listen closely, quite often at least snippets of sentences and at times whole clauses can be in what sounded to me like quasi- English. The surround track offers a more spacious assessment of both effects (especially in the more action oriented film within a film) and score, but a lot of Leonor Will Never Die is a talk fest, and as such the stereo option may suffice perfectly for some. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly throughout the presentation. Optional English subtitles are available.

Leonor Will Never Die Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Feature Commentary by Martika Ramirez Escobar


• A Film That Built Itself (HD; 23:29) is an appealing sit down with the very congenial Martika Ramirez Escobar, who discusses how she in fact believes this film kind of assembled itself, especially after she added material to the ending. She also provides some context in terms of Filipino action films that may be of benefit to those not overly conversant with the genre.


• Creature Feature: A Making of Video Journal (HD; 13:51) offers more "first person" content from Escobar, including parts of her globe trotting press junket to launch the film.


• Pusong Bato (HD; 20:31) is a short by Escobar that is like the main feature reflective of the Filipino film industry.


• Photo Gallery (HD)


• Behind the Scenes Gallery (HD)


• Artwork Gallery (HD)


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:09)

Leonor Will Never Die Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As "cinema centric" and indeed Filipino "cinema centric" as Leonor Will Never Die unapologetically is, it's actually some of the family dynamics that play out that may provide the most "universal" content in the story (this review has not even addressed two other central characters in the Reyes household, one of them that aforementioned ghost). Sheila Francisco is hugely impressive in this film, though she's not always completely supported by Escobar's at times slightly clunky writing. Still, Escobar has style to spare, and it's refreshing to see such a young filmmaker aiming for something unusual and in its own way provocative. Technical merits are generally solid (see my comments on the video above), and the supplements very enjoyable. Especially for those looking for something non-cookie cutter, Leonor Will Never Die comes Recommended.