The Halt

Eerily prophesying the COVID-19 pandemic, Lav Diaz’s sci-fi drama imagines a country ravaged by both flu and fascism.

It’s 2034 and a natural disaster has plunged Southeast Asia into three years of night. "The Dark Killer" – a catastrophic flu pandemic – has left millions dead and many more in mourning, and the Philippines is under the neo-fascist rule of a president who is on the brink of insanity. 

As an authoritarian government moves to destroy its detractors, a resistance rises.

Curator’s note
With an eye to the future of the Philippines, Lav Diaz’s only foray into science fiction to date lamented the present political reality of the time: President Duterte was midway through his maximum six-year term. His infamous “war on drugs” had horrific consequences on the Filipino people and his authoritarian grip on press freedom was on the rise.

Premiering at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, the film screened in the Directors' Fortnight section. Less than a year later, the world was in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Halt now stands as a hauntingly prophetic film that anticipated both a catastrophic virus and the heartbreaking effects of Duterte’s brutal rule.