Moonglow

Official Selection, 2026 International Film Festival Rotterdam

Writer-actor-director Isabel Sandoval’s new film MOONGLOW is set in 1970s Manila under the martial law of Ferdinand Marcos. Sandoval plays Dahlia, who is assigned to investigate a robbery she herself has committed—redistributing cash to the community. Assisting the case is the police chief’s nephew Charlie (played by Arjo Atayde), Dahlia’s old flame.

Fans, balconies, tropical nights, cigarette smoke. At night, everything is conducted in secret and memories overwhelm. Languid looks between past lovers and flashbacks to parties from a happier time. Under the shadow of authoritarian control, Sandoval (Apparition, SDAFF ‘12; Lingua Franca, SDAFF ‘19) conjures Fassbinder in spirit but delivers with a vampiric slow burn to out-romance every Wong Kar-Wai fan. We luxuriate in the neo-noir lighting and moving camera work of cinematographer Isaac Banks, while Sandoval shines as the femme fatale with quiet lingering power.

Perhaps lovers are allowed a second chance, to daydream of a softer future…

– Michelle Sui