SPOILER ALERT: The following review contains mild spoilers.
Abandoned shows the real horror that can come from anxiety attacks, failed relationships, and toxic jobs. Directed by an award winning filmmaker Kip Oebanda, and topbilled by seasoned actress Beauty Gonzalez and novice actor Seth Fedelin, Abandoned deserves all the attention it has been getting.
From the shots and the colors, the setting, the characters, and even the supporting actors, this movie is competitive enough to be lined up along with well-acclaimed international movies.
Beauty and Seth are perfect for their characters as Simone and RJ respectively. Beauty's innocent facial features and her screams, plus Seth's raw acting and effortlessly owning his role bring their characters to life.
Abandoned’s strength also lies in the story itself. The real horror is when you realize that it's not just a fantasy for a woman like Simone (Beauty). Her struggles as a single mom who was left no choice but to accept a job that's causing her trauma, that is the real horror.
The personal demons which she had from failed and abusive relationships with men in the past is also a real horror to her current relationship with her son, RJ (Seth).
The stress she's getting from her job as a night-shift security guard, the pressure of supporting her son's education alone, and the depressing loss of opportunities to decent jobs, all haunt her while she's at an abandoned building.
The case of Simone is a familiar situation in today's time -- being a woman in a man's world, a regular labor worker in an economically-challenged country, and a person with mental health issues.
Watch the trailer here:
Abandoned is available on iWant for free.