MANILA -- Of all the films in this year's Cinema One Originals film fest, "Double Twisting Double Back" is the one that had the most aggressive social media campaign. This was the only title I was actually aware of coming into this year's festival. The lead character was a gymnast, a male one at that -- definitely not a common protagonist in local cinema, maybe the only one. This made it an interesting and intriguing film to watch out for.

Gerald Zion (nickname Badger) was already up for promotion in his company for consistently exceeding his quota. However, when he received a call inviting him to resume training for the national team for gymnastics, his lifelong ambition to win an Olympic gold made him choose his passion over his job. However, underneath his charming demeanor, athletic skills and gold medals, Badger is one psychologically damaged wreck who can barely keep himself together.

For a new actor (this was only his second film after "ML" earlier this year), Tony Labrusca was very daring to accept a difficult role like Badger. The most obvious challenge were the physical demands, as he needed to have a background in basic gymnastic workouts and routines. While there may have been subtle substitutions in the rings, pommel horse or the parallel bars (aided by the editing prowess of Apol Saspa-Dating), those floor exercises with the handstands and somersaults were definitely all Labrusca.

In addition, there were the unbelievable mental, emotional and specially the psychological demands of the role, as Badger suffered from severe internal anguish and torture. Labrusca tried his best to cope with this formidable acting challenge, although there seemed to have been more depth that could still have been squeezed out of him. Labrusca only played the default form of Badger with his strong drive to win despite the turmoil within.

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This limitation may have been due to the way the writer-director Joseph Abello chose to portray Badger's confusing psyche with several varied personalities struggling to gain control. The story was not like "Split" (Shyamalan, 2016) where one actor shifted from one personality to another, demanding a wide range of acting prowess. Here, like it was in "Black Swan" (Aronofsky, 2010), we see Badger's inner demons.

Badger had a very close and constant companion (oddly nameless) with whom he had the most conflict with, yet he cannot seem to live without. This interesting character was played by Joem Bascon. Bascon was a crazy, sleazy sex-addict, id personified. He was the devil who only wanted to have fun all the time. He wanted none of the rigid discipline Badger needed during his gymnastics training, especially with all those pretty lithe female gymnasts around him ripe for the picking. Bascon boldly played him in full abandon of morality.

"Double Twisting Double Back" is a frequently heard description of somersaults in artistic gymnastics. Here in this film, it is used to describe the intricately complex psychological contortions that are all jumbling up within Badger's head. It can also be used to describe that final hair-raising loop that this whole roller-coaster ride of a film will climax on.

One could grumble about the the lag in the pacing midway, or the repetitive sex scenes with random girls all echoing the same inner conflict. The attempt to air the grievances of the gymnastics national team was admirable, but could have been better done.

However, by the time you see that mind-blowing final scene, it will simply make your jaw drop in shock and haunt you long afterwards.

This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."