Review of Seroks

One rainy night, a Xerox operator (Neil Ryan Sese) meets a mysterious woman, which leads him to a dark, passionate tale of duplicating fates and identities. Seroks, an intriguing digital indie film by Ed Lejano, will be screened on February 28 at the University of the Philippines Film Institute Cine Adarna.

The pyschological drama, a production of Cinema One Originals, makes use of the film noir style and fuses elements of the thriller in conveying a recurring pattern of duplicating events that reflect the film's title.


Set in the vibrant world of Recto, Juliana Palermo plays the mysterious woman who moves into a boarding house located above a photocopying shop. Palermo's femme fatale character meets the Xerox operator who works in the shop below her (Neil Ryan previously portrayed the eldest brother of Maxi in Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Olivares).


As the story unfolds, the diverse, offbeat characters get intertwined into a mosaic of human experiences where they all seem to meet a similar "Xeroxed" fate. Set amidst contemporary realities of piracy as it tackles the nature of destiny and identities-whether genuine or fake-this is the intriguing world of Seroks.


The richly-textured film noir drama also stars Lauren Novero, Soliman Cruz, Mystika, Ramon Bautista, Alchris Galura, and Maria Isabel Lopez. Cinematography is by Neil Daza, the screenplay co-written by Lye Candelaria and line-produced by Amor Olaguer.


During the 2006 Cinema One Originals Digital Movie Festival last November 26, Neil Daza of Seroks took home the Best Cinematography award, besting the six other films in competition.