“Buy Now, Die Later” is a 5-episode film about a bizarre emporium and its cryptic owner, Santi (TJ Trinidad). It spans out over the lives of the store’s five problematic clients, each one promised with all the answers they need to their problems, under the condition that they will strictly follow whatever is written on the contract Santi has made them sign. As Santi would put it, the effect of every purchased product is “100%, guaranteed”.
But there is a huge price to pay, and it does not take too long, before the clients face the consequences.
Everything about Santi’s shop appears ominously convenient. Odie (Vhong Navarro), a photojournalist about to lose his job, is the first one to notice it, wondering why he never noticed the shop before. “Baka dahil ngayon ka lang nangailangan”, Santi replies, and true enough, for every new clientele, the timing is always suspiciously, yet invitingly convenient.
Chloe (Alex Gonzaga), an aspiring starlet whose dream of finally penetrating showbusiness never seemed within her reach, Ato (Rayver Cruz), a troubled chef under hard circumstances, Pippa (John Lapus), a gay who desperately aspires for the hotter boys’ attention, and Maita (Lotlot de Leon/Janine Gutierrez), a mother feeling left behind by her daughter’s sudden ascent to stardom.
Together with Odie, their stories are deftly weaved as their lives are also interconnected, each episode dedicated for each of them representing one of the five human senses: sight for Odie, hearing for Chloe, taste for Ato, smell for Pippa, and touch for Maita.
With its wide scope, even two hours obviously don’t seem enough for each episode to easily get all its agenda across, and it feels as if each may better work if it is a standalone film. But the narrative, itself, finds a way to shrug it off, paying better attention to establishing concrete connections between the characters, instead of stretching their expositions to possibly futile elaborations.
The film works best this way, and with impressive technical attention paid in visuals and production design, every intended scare comes out in exquisitely gore details. The level of production just doesn’t go below just good, every moment of morbid horror captured in best way possible. There is a persistent comic effort in every episode but it is most palpable during John Lapus’, its humor working even on scary moments.
Every actor here, does a great job, decent at least, and that in spite of the obvious fact that there is hardly enough exposure to make their characters work. The last episode of this film, with all of them put together, justifies the shortage in introduction, but it is arguably Rayver’s episode that delivers the most scares.
“Buy Now, Die Later” feels like it can do more if it is given with longer time. This holds true for every episode, but for whatever it has delivered and accomplished with that very limited space, it somehow feels enough.
RATING: 8/10 (JE)
“Buy Now, Die Later” is an official entry to the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival.
