ENRIQUE GIL HAS spent his career as a romantic lead. In ‘Dukot,’ he spends it as a hostage.

Director Paul Soriano’s new film casts the romantic-comedy actor as a kidnap-for-ransom victim who suffers at the hands of his captors, in an action-packed, cutting-edge thriller that shows him in a light his fans haven’t seen before. That was Direk Paul’s promise when we met him and the cast at a press conference in Quezon City last week.

Enrique said the part was so different from anything he’d done that he accepted it as soon as it was offered. Watch the video below for more on his role.

A Story From Real Life

Soriano is the director behind the award-winning ‘Thelma’ and ‘Kid Kulafu,’ and he has produced other award-winning films too. But he says ‘Dukot’ already feels like an award in itself. Being able to tell a story drawn from real-life events, about a middle-class family, is its own fulfillment, he said.

The film is co-produced by Ten17 Productions and Star Cinema. Joining Gil in the cast are Shaina Magdayao, Ricky Davao, Christopher De Leon, Bangs Garcia, Alex Vincent Medina, Ping Medina, Dino Pastrano, and Bing Pimentel.

A Head-to-Head Opening Week

‘Dukot’ opens in theaters on July 13, the same day as ‘Imagine You and Me,’ starring Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza of the phenomenal love team AlDub. Both films premiered tonight, July 12.

Soriano isn’t treating it as a rivalry. Two Filipino films opening in one week is good news for a local cinema so often crowded out by Hollywood releases, he said. “At least, moviegoers have some movies to choose from.” And with the two films in different genres, he added, it’s good for the Filipino film industry as a whole.

We’ll be watching both. Expect our reviews on the blog this week.

Watch the full trailer of ‘Dukot’ below, and find more about the film here.