WATCH: John Lloyd Cruz Makes His Directorial Debut—With A Music Video!

John Lloyd Cruz is back!

But not in the way you might have expected.

Once an actor known for his boy-next-door looks and dramatic acting chops, the JLC of 2019 is much more low-key, preferring to work away from prying eyes and klieg lights and focusing on off-screen artistic projects. He might have recently ended his two-year showbiz hiatus, but his return to the industry marks a totally transformed version of himself, one that's bound to catch the attention of new fans. 

Having experimented with anything from painting to photography in recent months, the 36-year-old's brewing creativity had led him to a whole new music-meets-film project that marks his directorial debut: a moody, black and white music video for OPM act Sugar Hiccup's song Saturnine Nevermore. 

The verdict? 

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for those interested in learning more about the new JLC (and perhaps the JLC that's here to stay), it's the perfect piece of art. It's the world according to JLC made up of moments that, to him, are moving and touching. 

Sugar Hiccup and video producers Jason Tan and Erwin Romulo gave him free rein to conceptualize the video, the end result being a four-and-a-half-minute long video that's quiet, brooding, and introspective, much like the art that JLC has worked on before. It forces the viewer to keep their eyes glued to their screens to wait for a big reveal, only for it to conclude and suggest that a booming climax (or an obvious one, at least) need not happen for the video to leave a lasting impact and be meaningful. 

Watch it below: 

 

Released on September 8, the video credits JLC as its director but calls him "Idan Cruz," a nickname from childhood. 

Though seemingly composed of random clips sewn together, the video is actually a well-considered compilation of JLC's travels in the Philippines and Europe that he embarked on from September to December 2017. 

Aside from the video's visuals, its opening message is what will keep JLC's biggest fans theorizing for days. It reads, "It was shot in several cities by the filmmaker: some visited before, and some visited for the first time. One, perhaps for the last time."

What story JLC wished to tell or which life moments he wanted to allude to in his first-ever attempt at directing will be up for speculation for weeks and weeks, but even in that certainty, we're sure of one thing: we'd love to see more of his art and we sure hope this won't be the last video, or short film of his that we'll see!

Photos from @dumpsitegallery @turks.official