{{Use Philippine English|date=February 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox film | name = Nilalang | image = Nilalang.jpg | caption = One of the theatrical film poster of Nilalang | director = Pedring Lopez | producer = {{Plainlist| * Pedring Lopez * Troy Montero * Wesley Villarica }} | screenplay = {{ubl|Pedring Lopez|Dennis Empalmado}} | story = Pedring Lopez | starring = {{ubl|Cesar Montano|Maria Ozawa}} | music = Jesse Lasaten | cinematography = Pao Orendain | editing = Jason Cahapay | studio = {{Plainlist| * Haunted Tower Pictures * Welovepost * Parallax Studios * Viva Films * BlackOps Studios Asia }} | distributor = Viva Films | released = {{Film date|2015|12|25}} | country = Philippines | language = Filipino<br />English<br />Japanese | runtime = 90 minutes | budget = | gross =
}}
'''''Nilalang''''' or {{nihongo|'''''Sonzai-sha'''''|存在者|Entity}} is a 2015 Filipino action horror film directed by Pedring Lopez starring Cesar Montano and Maria Ozawa.<ref>{{cite news|date=June 23, 2015|title=Maria Ozawa to star in MMFF entry 'Nilalang' with Robin Padilla|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/509002/showbiz/maria-ozawa-to-star-in-mmff-entry-nilalang-with-robin-padilla|location=Philippines|publisher=GMA News|access-date=October 22, 2015}}</ref> It is an official entry to the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival and was released on December 25, 2015.<ref name="pep">{{cite news|date=September 13, 2015|title=MMDA announces revised list of MMFF 2015 movies|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/536697/showbiz/mmda-announces-revised-list-of-mmff-2015-movies|publisher=GMA News|access-date=October 22, 2015}}</ref> ''Nilalang'' is about a local forensic expert who teams up with an heiress to a transnational organized crime syndicate originating from Japan.
==Plot== NBI special crimes division agent Tony encounters an evil entity which is bent on killing and torturing beautiful women, one of which was his girlfriend, years after he thought to have killed the spirit. People close to Tony are placed in danger, including his partner Jane, who has a romantic interest towards him with everyone in the agency aware of this fact except for Tony.<ref name=supernatural>{{cite news|title=Nilalang: Supernatural, dark and creepy|url=http://www.adobomagazine.com/philippine-news/nilalang-supernatural-dark-and-creepy|access-date=December 27, 2015|work=Adobo Magazine|publisher=Sanserif, Inc.}}</ref>
The spirit, who has killed many people in Japan, is thought to be targeting women from a certain clan of samurai. In Manila, Miyuki takes care of the family business while her younger sister Akane is taking care of their aging father. Miyuki is later forced to help in the investigation regarding the murders after Akane goes missing and their father is found dead to put a stop to the entity's killing spree.<ref name=supernatural/>
==Cast== [[File:Cesar_Montano.jpg|thumb|125x178px|Cesar Montano portrays the role Tony, a NBI agent.]]
===Main cast=== *Cesar Montano as Tony *Maria Ozawa as Miyuki
===Supporting cast=== *Meg Imperial as Jane *Yam Concepcion as Akane *Cholo Barretto as Totoy *Dido de la Paz as Col. Guevarra *Kiko Matos as Mark *Aubrey Miles as Tin (Tony's Girlfriend) *Alexandre Charlet as Jean-Luc Lamy (French Interpol Agent) *Sonny Sison as Lord Ishijuki *Jeff Centauri as Miyuki's Yakuza Bodyguard *Khalil Ramos as Teenage Mark
==Production== ===Casting=== Robin Padilla was supposed to be Ozawa's leading man in this film but due to his wife Mariel Rodriguez's delicate pregnancy, he decided to back out to take care of his wife.<ref name="MMFF">{{cite news|url=https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/106127-cesar-montano-replace-robin-padilla-nilalang-maria-ozawa/|title=Cesar Montano replaces Robin Padilla in 'Nilalang' with Maria Ozawa|date=September 16, 2015|publisher=Rappler|access-date=October 22, 2015}}</ref>
==Release== ''Nilalang'' released its official trailer on October 12, 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUiij2o3NpU|title = Nilalang Trailer - Metro Manila Film Festival 2015 Official Entry|date = October 12, 2015|access-date = October 22, 2015|website = YouTube|publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref>
The film was released in the Philippines on December 25, 2015, Christmas Day, as part of the annual Metro Manila Film Festival.
==Awards== The film won 5 awards during the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival including Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Editing, Best Musical Score and Best Sound Engineering. {| class="wikitable" |- ! Award !! Category !! Recipient!!Result |- | rowspan="9"|41st Metro Manila Film Festival<ref>{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Chuck|title=Winners: 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival awards night|url=http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2015/12/28/1536999/list-winners-2015-metro-manila-film-festival-awards-night|website=Philippine Star|access-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref> ||Best Supporting Actor||Dido de la Paz||{{nominated}} |- |Best Cinematography||Pao Orendain||{{Won}} |- |Best Editing||Jason Cahapay||{{Won}} |- |Best Visual Effects||Pedro Chuidian & Rommel Pambid||{{Won}} |- |Best Production Design||Mimi Sanson Viola||{{Nominated}} |- |Best Make-up Artist||Richard Carvajal & Alice Soro Collara||{{nominated}} |- |Best Original Theme Song||"Greyhoundz Lions"||{{nominated}} |- |Best Musical Score||Jessie Lasaten||{{won}} |- |Best Sound Engineering||Ditoy Aguila||{{won}} |- |}
==Controversy==
===Pullout from cinemas=== After a day of screening, some cinemas started pulling out the film in favor of the two other blockbuster hit entries of the festival, ''My Bebe Love'' and ''Beauty and the Bestie''. From a total of 40 theatres, the number of cinemas showing ''Nilalang'' went down to five. Because of this, the producers appealed to moviegoers and theatre owners to support the independent film the same way that they support the mainstream films of the festival. After this, the hashtag #DemandForNilalang became a trending topic on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, as interested movie goers urged cinema owners to screen the said film. After a few days, many theatre owners started including the film in their cinema line-up to give way to the public's request.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|5216674|Nilalang}}
{{MMFF}}
Category:2015 action thriller films Category:2015 films Category:Viva Films films Category:Philippine action thriller films Category:Philippine supernatural horror films Category:Films about spirit possession Category:Demons in film Category:2015 Japanese-language films Category:2010s Tagalog-language films Category:2015 Philippine films Category:Yakuza films Category:Philippine crime thriller films Category:Philippine detective films Category:Films set in Metro Manila Category:2015 English-language films Category:2015 Japanese films Category:English-language action thriller films