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Metascore
76 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critics What's this?

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7.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4 Ratings

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  • Summary: Serbis, from acclaimed Filipino director Brillante Mendoza, is about the Pineda family, who operates and lives in a run-down movie house that shows dated sexy double-feature films. As they go about their daily activities, we get a glimpse of how the family suffers and deals with each other’s sins and vices. Preoccupied with their own personal demons, they are unmindful that inside their movie theater another kind of business is going on between the “serbis” boys and the gay patrons. (Regent Releasing)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Curiel
    100
    Serbis has the feel of a documentary, but a documentary can't accomplish what Serbis does: Take us to a corner of the world where sex and regret are so intimately entwined.
  2. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    90
    Serbis may be a raunch-fest, but it's also a mind-trip--a raunch-fest with ideas.
  3. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    60
    This isn't a family -- or a film -- you'll ­easily forget.

See all 11 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. InstaFlicka
    6
    If you are not deeply committed to independent cinema or perhaps deeply into Asian pornography you won't like this film, but if you are... then I say give it a try. Serbis -- a Filipino film with subtitles -- tells the story of a three-generation family living in and running a rundown former family movie theater that now runs soft-core porn and caters to a largely homosexual and illicit crowd. The dark movie house is filled with prostitutes, johns and who knows what else. It is all very unseemly in a movie theater that is just as disgusting as the things that go on there. Throughout the theater there are signs that read “No pissing here.” It is fairly likely that wads of cum are as essential as mortar in holding the rather large and decrepit theater together. We follow the family as they struggle to survive together and cope with the utterly un-family friendly confines that they are housed. The setting puts everyone's sexual desires and perversions on display for everyone else and especially the viewer. The director spends a lot of the movie following his characters walking up and down the numerous stairways in the winding and expansive theater as if they are walking through a macabre maze. But no one seems to be getting out and the dead-ends lead to desperation, resignation and exploitation. The whole thing is carnal, sad and darkly humorous. That last bit is important to note because it may not be altogether clear that this movie tries to be funny. It is easy to lose the humor while reading the subtitles. If you approach this movie as if it were some kind of odd and disturbing telenovela, you are likely to have a better viewing and maybe even revel in some of the quirky melodrama. Still, for many, this movie is painfully slow and perhaps unwatchable. I can understand that. There are many flaws. The sound editing is substandard in several patches; the camera work struggles mightily in some stretches, although it is competent in others places; and the dialogue is a little banal. There is also an uneven -- or maybe just confusing -- tone to Serbis. I mentioned that you can get some delight out of the melodrama, but it is not hard to get thrown for a loop by what seems to be fits of earnestness. There are moments that make you feel like Serbis is too serious to get away with some of its comical gags, yet there are also moments that make you feel like it is too ridiculous to be taken seriously. These shifts not only confuse the viewer but make one incredulous about the director's intentions. Is it okay to laugh or should I feel bad that it made me laugh? How should I feel about being titillated by the non-simulated sex scenes? Is this film nothing more than a gritty porno about pornography? Does the director want me to be conflicted? If this film wasn't worth anything I wouldn't be asking those questions, and if it was better crafted I might know some of the answers. The bottom line is that this venture demands some thought and an opinion -- good or bad -- and that is more than I can say about a lot of things that flicker on the screen. -Craig from the InstaFlicka Podcast Team ----- The InstaFlicka Podcast Doing our part to help you by watching the NetFlix Instant Queue until our eyes bleed http://instaflicka.squarespace.com/… Expand
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