UPDATE (May 13): Shaw Lido has given a second extention to Unlucky Plaza's run on May 14 and 15. A weekend screening – subject to audience response during the two-day extension – may also be possible. 

SINGAPORE —  Playfully named after the famous Orchard Road mall, Unlucky Plaza is the hostage-dramady about Onassis, a Filipino single father who in his struggle with a failing business, rising rents and Singapore’s bureaucracy, commits an accidental act that ultimately spirals into a media circus and social upheaval.

Starring Filipino actor Epy Quizon alongside homegrown favourites Adrian Pang, Judee Tan, Shane Mardjuki, Janice Koh, Pam Oei and MediaCorp host and actor Guo Liang, the film was written and directed by Singaporean filmmaker Ken Kwek, after two years of perseverance and knocking on many doors to find supportive investors. It’s also produced under his label, Kaya Toast Pictures.

It premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival to much acclaim and was a sold-out success at the Singapore International Film Festival last year. But when the much talked film finally secured a Singapore theatrical distribution with Shaw Organisation and opened nationwide last month, did you go watch it?

Unlucky Plaza will be running till next Wednesday (May 13) and if you still haven’t made the trip to the cinema to catch this social satire, here are five reasons why you should:

1. In director’s Kwek’s own words: “Because (Singapore) will get to see their favourite actors in transformative roles. Imagine Guo Liang — our favourite TV host and a consummate gentleman — as a snarling, swearing, gun-toting villain. Wouldn’t you pay to see that?”

2. It’s a refreshing new addition to the canon of local cinema, with Kwek delivering a style, genre and vernacular previously unexplored before in Singapore film. Yet the film is still chock-full of the requisite local in-jokes and nudge-winks that will connect.

3. Go if you’re a fan of Dog Day Afternoon, Reservoir Dogs and Fargo, and spot the influences. Hands up who hasn’t, at one time or another, felt like a desperate outsider who would do anything to make things right?

4. You’d be hard-pressed to find a local film that is willing to touch hot-button issues so close to the home, one that encourages you to reflect on our social schisms and transgressions.

5. It’s a perfect respite to the deluge of superhero flicks and C-grade rom-coms at the current box-office, and an invigorating alternative. Where’s your SG50 enthusiasm? It’s time to watch local and support local cinema.