At the movie’s press preview, most writers agree that had she not sued GMA and became a mother prematurely, she would have been a bigger star by now since she was already on the verge of stardom then. But what can she do? She fell in love and when you’re in love, it’s all that matters.
At any rate, she can still make a successful comeback if she’d play it right. After all, Jennylyn Mercado also became an unwed mother but she was able to bounce back and look at her now, even winning a best actress award.
Going back to “Liwanag sa Dilim”, it’s not only Sarah who gives a good performance in it but also Jake Vargas as the boy from the city who is vacationing in the town of Estancia when some hideous crimes start to happen. Jake and partner Bea Binene help in discovering who the culprit is and this put their lives in great danger. Bea gets to demonstrate her knowledge of martial arts in some scenes, which should come as no surprise since she’s really a wushu expert off cam. Jake also gets to do some action scenes in the movie’s climax where they get to face the mysterious murderer in an action-packed showdown.
Well photographed and with good production values, the movie is directed by Richard Somes and we just wish the script was better written. There’s an unexplainable sequence where Jake and Bea, with their friend Igiboy Flores, is chased by the monster while they’re part of a procession in town. Instead of seeking the help of the townspeople, they get away from the crowd and the monster runs after them. Then, all of a sudden, they return to the procession because they want to seek help. So why did they separate from the procession in the first place?
The climax will no doubt elicit lots of scream from the viewers as it’s excitingly staged. If you want to have a good reason to scream while hugging your partner on Valentine’s day, this is the perfect date movie for you. “Liwanag sa Dilim” also makes good use of some special effects when the sun shines on the monster, burns it and turns it into ashes. We’re just wondering why, in earlier scenes, the monster is shown roaming around the town and the country side in broad daylight but the sun doesn’t seem to have any negative effect on it.
