A Pencil to the Jugular
Directed byMatthew Victor Pastor
Produced by
  • Matthew Victor Pastor
  • Evangeline Lee
  • Lorena Zarate
Music byAndrew Tran
Release date
  • April 22, 2021 (2021-04-22) (Moscow International Film Festival)
Running time
121 minutes[1]

A Pencil to the Jugular is a 2021 Mexican-Australian drama film set during the COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne. It is the second installment in a 2020 trilogy of feature films directed by Matthew Victor Pastor.[2] The film premiered at the 43rd Moscow International Film Festival in April 2021.[3] The film was co-written by Lorena Zarate.[4]

Synopsis

In March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, an ensemble of young migrants' lives fall apart. Through the chaos these lives will cross paths and a pencil will be taken to the jugular.

Cast

  • Lorena Zarate as Libra
  • Felise Morales as Amanda
  • Shirong Wu as Ying

Reception

Panos Kotzathanasis of Asian Movie Pulse has said in a review "A Pencil in the Jugular is an uneven film, which can be beautiful at times, features interesting characters and well presented social comments, but suffers from lack of restraint."[5]

Conception

The film is a reaction to the rise of global hate crimes towards Asians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pastor has stated in inquirer.net “multicultural communities can stand in solidarity … and allow us (Asians) to write ourselves into history.”[4]

Pastor has also mentioned in an interview with The Swanston Gazette that he is interested in editing a five-hour version of the trilogy making the future, present and past elements of the three films into a singular vision edit with a runtime of 320 minutes. The 5 hour version of the film may act as a full vision.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "A Pencil to the Jugular" – via mubi.com.
  2. ↑ "Fil-Aus indie film screens in Cinema Rehiyon 2021". SBS Your Language.
  3. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN FILM 'A PENCIL TO THE JUGULAR' TO SCREEN AT MOSCOW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL". 19 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 Cruz, Marinel (May 5, 2021). "PH movie on antiracism screened in Russian fest". INQUIRER.net.
  5. ↑ Kotzathanasis, Panos (April 27, 2021). "Film Review: Pencil in the Jugular (2021) by Matthew Victor Pastor".
  6. ↑ "An Interview with feature filmmaker Matthew Pastor". The Swanston Gazette. Archived from the original on 2021-06-06. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
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