Neomanila

Duterte's war on drugs has turned Manila into a hunting ground where extrajudicial executions take place daily. Shady criminals do the dirty work for the cops and leave the victims in the road with the accusations written on cardboard. With great realism and viewed through the eyes of those immediately involved, this dark, sobering thriller reveals how fear and violence determine the complex relationships in this urban labyrinth. Toto, a homeless teen, gets caught between a rock and a hard place when the police arrest his older brother. To get him out, he has to betray a drug dealer thereby risking revenge from a street gang. Contract killer Irma takes him under her wing, but also tries to make Toto, who has never killed anyone, her understudy. With loyalties tested and unexpected acts of violence burning the bridges behind him, the end result becomes less predictable. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)