Magdalena, The Unholy Saint

Guillen's feverish drama revolves around a cynical hussy named Malen (Panganiban), who enters the family business of professional praying in exchange for money, only to find that God is listening. The story unfolds with the darkly seductive air of a horror movie, all heat and sweat and overripe dream sequences. Guillen uses Malen's travails—her mother's death, her boyfriend's hustling, the church's disapproval—to smartly pose thorny questions about the relationship between faith and money, the fallibility of the clergy and God's mysterious ways.