Mastering the art of fear

MANILA, Philippines — How did Netflix Philippines’ “Outside” fare in terms of viewership outside the Philippines?

In its debut week following the Oct. 17 world premiere on the international streaming platform, Carlo Ledesma’s zombie/psychological thriller landed at No. 1 on Netflix Philippines and No. 4 among non-English films worldwide, with 19,100,000 total hours viewed. Translated into 32 different languages, it also became part of the Top 10 most-watched movies in 45 countries, most of which are in Latin America.

In its second week, “Outside” remained in Netflix’s Top 5 non-English titles globally with 11,200,000 hours viewed.

Is a sequel (or a prequel) now possible more than ever? Its director previously hinted to this paper that the origins of the zombie outbreak could be explained in future films. But that would depend on how well “Outside” performed on the streamer.

“It all depends, I guess, on how this one does worldwide. So sana magustuhan, and hopefully, we’ll see what Netflix decides,” direk Carlo told The STAR.

Meanwhile, we can debate all we want about the zombies or the lack thereof in “Outside,” but there's no arguing the acting showdown among the main cast of the film, which delves more into the “monsters amongst us” theme. Sid Lucero, Beauty Gonzalez, Marco Masa and Aiden Patdu portrayed the family unit trying to survive both the toxic household drama and the zombie apocalypse.

Scenes that we believe will linger for many movie years to come include the dinner scene where Sid’s character, Francis — the family patriarch in a downward spiral into madness — acts cheerfully, going about business as usual in a Christmas sweater, while putting his family on edge. There's that scene where Beauty’s character desperately chops off her son's infected arm to save his life — a scene that reportedly required countless takes and input from a real surgeon. Then there’s Marco, whose scenes with his onscreen dad Sid are riveting, from the tense lesson on firing a gun to their final, tragic interaction. That offered a hint of redemption, a small glimmer of closure for the generational trauma Francis experienced first hand and had inflicted on his own son.

Beauty Gonzalez as the mother Iris who wants a way out not just of the house, but also the toxic marriage.

Horror, whether psychological or driven by monsters, is one genre that pushes actors to their limits. It requires more than acting, and goes hand in hand with imagination and a touch of fearlessness.

That's what we learned from Sid, Beauty and Marco during an exclusive chat. They spoke about how horror acting differs from traditional drama portrayals, and what skills it needs to strike genuine fear in the hearts of the viewers.

“Horror bonifies you as an actor,” said Sid. “Especially actresses kasi, ‘di ba, babae yung lead in horror most of the time.”

“It’s one of the hardest things to do — to act scared in front of something in makeup. It’s not natural,” he added, saying that horror films often launch actors into new acting territories.

“Every time an actress suddenly decides to do some form of thriller… usually ‘pag horror ka, you’d see that actor or actress in a next film, and it usually launches them.”

Beauty, who is slowly but surely earning Philippine cinema's horror queen title with her successive horror projects, agreed about the challenges of horror acting.

“Of course, horror is really different, it’s hard,” she said. “Like Sid said, it’s hard to act out horror and stay in that momentum, not letting go.

“Because there’s always something going on in the set — lighting, cellphone noises or continuity errors — but you have to stay there, in that moment. I take it on a happy note that I get to express myself without anybody asking where it's coming from.

“I guess, I’m just letting go of the stress of my problems. I don’t know how I get to pull that off. Prayers nalang siguro,” she mused.

According to Marco, they also have to envision terrifying scenarios that aren’t physically there.

“We have to imagine things na ang layo naman talaga sa nakikita namin, so it's really hard then,” the young actor said.

“And of course, in horror films, it's more on post-prod din yung challenge dahil kailangan makuha yung audience and yung takot ng audience.”

Sid, however, noted that they also have to be careful because horror acting can have its comedic pitfalls. “It could easily become a joke though,” he said.

“Dun nga na-coin yung words ‘finding the table,’ ‘swatting the fly,’ or ‘walling’ because of B-horror,” he added.

Based on definitions online, “fly swatting” referred to “jittery movements,” as if swatting away imaginary insects, that the actor would make to often hint at a character’s paranoia. “Finding the table” is said to be a technique where an actor would interact with objects in their environment, such as a table, by “gripping them for stability,” as if anchoring themselves against unseen threats. “Walling,” meanwhile, is when an actor would back against a wall to appear cornered with no escape.

If you've noticed as well, horror acting would heavily involve facial expressions to channel terror.

“Bawal dito ang Botox kasi wala kang facial expressions,” Beauty quipped. “For me, horror requires you to let go of self-consciousness about your face.”

That's why the lead stars could say that “Outside” was one of the hardest films they had to make.

Sid Lucero as the father Francis who goes on a downward spiral while trying to protect his family.

“It was a great experience. But for me, this was one of the hardest films I've ever done. It might seem like a simple film, but everything was about timing,” said Sid.

Beauty, for her part, naturally found comfort in the familiarity of the set location in Negros, as she hails from Negros Oriental. But still, she added, “It was not an easy film.”

Ultimately though, she enjoyed the shoot because she felt liberated. “Wala talaga akong makeup, as in literal. Paggising mo, walang ligo minsan — sorry (laughs)! Kasi diretso ka na sa set. Plus, they even enhanced my eyebags,” she recalled.

“When I'm doing ‘normal’ movies or any other movies, there are five people watching you to make sure that you look good on screen. So this was very liberating for me because I just learned to let go and trust the process.

“It was tiring but I felt happy that by the end of the day, I was able to do it. I didn't feel like I was tortured or dying or whatever. I feel so lucky and grateful that I'm part of this film.

“This doesn't come to you (often). As an actor, sa akin lang ‘to ha, pangarap ko na magkaroon ako ng magandang script, and I'm just so happy because I get to explore everything — from being on a TV show to being in movies to doing comedy to horror.”

As for Marco, “Outside” revived his passion for acting. “It was a different experience for me kasi medyo matagal akong hindi nakagawa ng movie. At first, medyo kinakabahan ako, and noong dumating ako sa Bacolod (Negros Occidental), medyo na-homesick ako,” he shared.

But he said that he also felt equally “blessed and grateful” because “ibang klaseng break ‘to, especially for my career.”

“So it's pressure but a good kind of pressure because feeling ko, (it brought me back to my purpose). Ever since I was like three or four years old, ito (acting) na yung ginagawa ko.

“This experience has revived my focus. Isa sa mga natutunan ko dito is the importance of attention to detail. Lahat kailangan nasa ayos, and everything has meaning,” he concluded.