For a very dark film, “Kinatay” is getting its happy ending.

After much trepidation, director Brillante Mendoza submitted his controversial film to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and walked away with an R rating (Strictly for Adults/No one below 18 years old may be admitted).

More importantly, he’s happy that “Kinatay can now be seen in its entirety without cuts.”

The MTRCB clearance allows Mendoza the freedom to release his film for exhibition in any outlet for a period of five years.

“Kinatay,” which won the filmmaker the Cannes International Film Festival’s nod for Best Director, is 100-minute descent of a young criminologist (Coco Martin) into moral hell. Tagging along for a quick buck, he finds himself trapped in a nightmarish ride from which he cannot get off.

By all accounts, the film is not a typical audience-pleaser. Initial reviews from Cannes have been extreme, although the Cannes jury felt very strongly for Mendoza’s vision.

In a personal note to the filmmaker, jury member and Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino said, “Your decision to never dramatize… never indulge in movie suspense was bold and daring… I believed everything I saw.”

Reviews by Filipino cineastes have so far been intriguing. Lilit Reyes, an awarded screenwriter and adman wrote:

“The seemingly unseen and seen soon-to-be-murdered target, right beside the innocent protagonist, combined with music as though our heart will pound loudly and stop beating, and mixed with conversations to aid the non-visible violence in alternately nonchalant and filthy dialogue, make ‘Kinatay’ an effective thriller, in realistic, but darkly visualized manner.”

Spot.ph’s reviewer Antonio Paredes said, “Brillante Mendoza does what he does best: Capturing the controlled chaos of the city in broad, impressionistic strokes… There is a metaphorical appropriateness to having the action be so murky that you cannot even identify who is speaking – evil can be faceless, or requires a remove on the part of the person perpetrating it.”

The Filipino audience has seen “Kinatay” only once before, at the private screening hosted by the UP Film Institute. But film buffs have the chance to see it in its first public screening on Aug. 25, Tuesday, at 7 p.m. at Greenbelt 3’s Cinema 2. A special discussion with Mendoza and his creative team follows immediately.

This time, the advertising bible adobo magazine hosts the one-night engagement, with Optima Digital (which did the post-production work on “Kinatay”). Having friends and colleagues see his masterwork is important for Mendoza. Of the event, he says, “I’m hoping for a warm reception from the advertising community.”

Initially meant to be an exclusive event for the local ad people – who have known Mendoza since his days as a production designer – the screening is open to the public but is limited to first 300 viewers.

To secure tickets, send an e-mail to info@adobomagazine.com