You may not know Australian photographer James J. Robinson by name, though you’re likely familiar with his work – luminous 35mm film portraits of celebrities like Rihanna, as well as the viral image of a burning St Kevin’s blazer in protest of the private school’s homophobic culture. It would have been logical for Robinson to leverage his Hollywood connections and his talent for incendiary imagery into a provocative, starry filmmaking debut. But First Light, his first feature as writer and director, is a determinedly minimalistic effort. Starring veteran Filipino actress Ruby Ruiz, it’s a quiet and meandering piece of slow cinema which reckons with faith, mortality and modernization in the Philippines, from where Robinson’s mother migrated in the ‘70s.

Unfolding at a measured pace, the film familiarises its audience with Sister Yolanda (Ruiz), an elderly nun content within the crumbling walls of her convent, originally built by Spanish colonists. Her modest lifestyle is at odds with the elite clientele to whom she ministers – chiefly the Dela Cruzes, an entitled wealthy couple developing a highway to connect the village to the modern world. When a young labourer is killed at their construction site, Yolanda bears witness to the systemic cover-up of the Dela Cruzes’ role in his death.

It’s reductive to describe the film purely in narrative terms, as its knack for visual abstraction is its strongest asset. Cinematographer Amy Dellar deals in richly detailed wide shots, largely dependent on soft natural daylight; although her shadowy night photography in the convent bears more similarity to Baroque art, lit by moon and candle. Robinson, like so many other aspiring filmmakers, has cited Tarkovsky as a major inspiration. This is far from mere lip service: camera movement is exceedingly minimal, cuts within individual sequences are rare and the hilly landscape arguably receives more consideration and scrutiny than quite a few of the film’s supporting characters. An awe-inspiring freeform passage in the third act blends magical realism, anti-capitalist messaging and environmental symbolism into a truly elemental onslaught of images.

With such visual mastery on display, it’s a shame that Robinson’s script is so blunt and uninterested in moral complexity. It’s difficult to sympathise with Yolanda’s internal struggle over her personal ties to the Dela Cruzes, as their guilt is almost cartoonishly clear-cut. Despite this flat characterisation, Ruiz manages to deliver a masterful performance: warm, wise and worn to the bone by her own church’s corruption and decades of personal grief. And where Robinson’s writing does excel is in lively everyday exchanges between the nuns, particularly a gentle and poignant subplot about Yolanda tutoring a young novice (Kare Adea).

The social realism of First Light pales in comparison to Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s recent film Evil Does Not Exist, which similarly interrogates corporate sins in a rural community with a far more nuanced depiction of its bureaucratic villains. But the film’s underwritten screenplay can’t hold back the dramatic force Ruiz brings, imbuing its impressive but distant frames with a true sense of grace.

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First Light is screening in cinemas from Thursday the 9th of July. For tickets and more info, click here.

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