‘Leonor Will Never Die’ Review: Rewriting Life, One Scene at a Time

The agony of irrelevance might be commonly addressed in movies, but rarely with the lightheartedness of Martika Ramirez Escobar’s airy fantasy, “Leonor Will Never Die.”

In part an affectionate ode to trashy action films, this debut feature gazes compassionately on Leonor (Sheila Francisco), a once-celebrated, now retired Filipina genre director. Aging and depressed, Leonor grieves the death of her favorite son, Ronwaldo (Rocky Salumbides), and lives with his feckless brother, Rudy (Bong Cabrera), whose inability to pay the bills makes her feel like a burden. So when she learns of a contest for unproduced screenplays, she determines to revise one of her own; but before she can complete it, a freak accident leaves her unconscious.

From there, like a choose-your-own-adventure, “Leonor Will Never Die” inhabits that unfinished story, an inventive revenge fantasy in which Leonor stars. Blood and bullets and pulpy dialogue alternate with more intimate scenes, the see-through ghost of Ronwaldo (played by the hunky Anthony Falcon) popping up now and then for a chat. The effect is by turns comical, maddening and endearing as Escobar reaches for more ambitious ideas about the political appeal of the authoritarian hero; but “Leonor” is finally too mired in its film-within-the-film frolics for more serious themes to gain traction.

Francisco, though, is a delight. Defiantly gray-haired and wrapped in shapeless floral frocks, she makes Leonor a touchingly adamant heroine, one whose playfulness masks her need to mourn her lost child and vanished career. Leonor’s glory days may be behind her, but her belief in the healing power of movies is undimmed.

Leonor Will Never Die
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. In theaters.