Leonor Will Never Die takes us on a madcap ride through Filipino 80s action movies that is so meta it is like a Möbius strip.

Cinematographer and writer Martika Ramirez Escobar directs her first feature and it is a messy and warm-hearted tale of Leonor (Sheila Francisco), a screenwriter who has lost her way. An accident on a film set saw the end of her career but she can’t let go of her love of action movies. With one last script half written, an accident that puts her in a coma encourages her son Rudie (Bong Cabrera) to try and make the film a reality. Meanwhile Leonor has entered into the world of her film where she must try and save action hero Ronwaldo (Rocky Salumbides) and herself.

There’s not much logic to this story, just a kind of delirious playfulness with the very human challenge of redemption for past mistakes. In the world of the film, heroes and villains are clearly defined and sacrifice for the greater good is cherished, something that Leonor can’t find in her own life.

The action scenes are all super cheesy and we aren’t supposed to take it too seriously. It gets almost a bit too self-referential toward the end but all is forgiven during it’s final scene. More films should end like this.

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