Trap (2015 film)

Cast

Production

After Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in 2013, director Brillante Mendoza was asked by others if he would make a film about the disaster, to which he thought could be insensitive for him to exploit the tragedies that have occurred for the victims' lives. Some months later, he was asked by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to create a documentary film about climate change. For it to have a better impact towards audiences, Mendoza suggested to make a narrative film instead.

In preparing for her role, Nora Aunor interviewed some of the people in Tacloban, Leyte, a city heavily damaged by the typhoon.

Release

Trap was screened on 19 May 2015 in the Un Certain Regard section at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. It was also shown at the Sarajevo Film Festival. The film was also part of the 9th Film and Arts Festival Two Riverside in Poland, the 15th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival in Poland, the 28th Helsinki International Film Festival and the 20th Busan International Film.

Reception

Maggie Lee of Variety called it "an intimate yet detached portrait of survivors of Typhoon Yolanda". Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "proves to be very much in line with the director's trademark vision of the world as a bleak, imperfect if not even hopeless place". Screen International described it as "a choral film shot in urgent, handheld, docu-drama style that illuminates the tragedy and its aftermath via an intertwined series of personal stories".