Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Movie Minute Review
    • Amir Kovacs on The BOOK OF JOSHUA: WALLS OF JERICHO – An Animated Epic of Faith and Triumph
    • Director Dean DeBlois: Bringing HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON To Life In Live Action
    • Resurfaced Interview with Brian Wilson, John Cusack and Director Bill Pohlad for biopic LOVE & MERCY
    • FUBAR: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carrie-Anne Moss Bring Action and Laughs to Netflix’s Hit Series Season 2
    • THE PHOENECIAN SCHEME Movie Minute Review
    • KARATE KID: LEGENDS Movie Minute Review
    • FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES Movie Minute Review
    AMFM Magazine.tv
    • Features
    • Movies
      1. Movies – Indies
      2. Movie Reviews
      3. Movies- Wide Release
      Featured
      June 11, 20250By christine

      FUBAR: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carrie-Anne Moss Bring Action and Laughs to Netflix’s Hit Series Season 2

      4 Mins Read
      Read More
      Recent
      June 13, 2025

      HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Movie Minute Review

      June 13, 2025

      Amir Kovacs on The BOOK OF JOSHUA: WALLS OF JERICHO – An Animated Epic of Faith and Triumph

      June 13, 2025

      Director Dean DeBlois: Bringing HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON To Life In Live Action

    • Photography
      1. Event Photos
      Featured
      August 23, 20240By christine

      JANE’S ADDICTION At The 713 Music Hall, Houston August 19, 2024

      1 Min Read
      Read More
      Recent
      May 1, 2025

      DISTURBED, DAUGHTRY and NOTHING MORE Photo Collage for 25th Anniversary Tour of “The Sickness”

      November 26, 2024

      ARIZONA Opening For Yellow Card and Third Eye Blind at Dickie’s Arena, Nov. 15, 2024

      November 26, 2024

      CHARLIE CROCKETT At Dickie’s Arena, Nov. 15, 2024

    • ABOUT US
    • Music
      1. Indies
      2. Majors
      3. Reviews
      Featured
      November 25, 20240By christine

      Asia’s #1 Rock Guitarist Tak Matsumoto Talks New Supergroup TMG Release “Crash Down Love” (Interview)

      4 Mins Read
      Read More
      Recent
      June 11, 2025

      Resurfaced Interview with Brian Wilson, John Cusack and Director Bill Pohlad for biopic LOVE & MERCY

      May 20, 2025

      Singer Colin Blunstone of Iconic 60’s Rock Band THE ZOMBIES On Release of Documentary HUNG UP ON A DREAM

      May 7, 2025

      SCOTT PAGE: Blending Music, Tech, and the Future of Blockchain

    • The Wire
    • Literarians
    • Great Conversations Reprised
    • Movie Minute Reviews
    • AMFM Studios LLC
    AMFM Magazine.tv
    You are at:Home»Film-Festivals»Fantasia 2018 Review: NEOMANILLA Goes Ground Floor On Duterte’s War on Drugs

    Fantasia 2018 Review: NEOMANILLA Goes Ground Floor On Duterte’s War on Drugs

    0
    By amfmstudios on August 7, 2018 Film-Festivals, Movie Reviews, Movies, Movies - Indies, Movies - Reviews

     

    I’m not going to suggest that I have any idea what it means to be a Filipino national at this point. Lead by a corrupt dictator, who also happens to be somehow one of Donald Trump’s favorite people, the Philippines are currently in the midst of a War on Drugs the likes of which America has never seen. In Mikhail Red’s new film NEOMANILA, he takes us inside the unofficially sanctioned death squads that hunt down drug pushers and kill them. It’s a gritty film that easily brings to mind SICARIO, but manages to be entirely new due to the character setup.

    At the opening of the film, Toto (Tim Castillo) is a young street kid just struggling to get by. When his older brother is incarcerated, he does what he can to get bail together, eventually discovering a local gang has taken a contract out on both him and his brother. He is saved from a hopeless future by tough-as-nails contract killer Irma (Eula Valdez). She takes him under her wing and begins to train him us her protege in Duterte’s War on Drugs. The audience is put in the position of having to root for a character conducting what to an American mind is clearly vigilante justice.

    There’s a lot to like about NEOMANILA, especially the performances by the two leads. For me personally, it was difficult to get past the moral issue that isn’t quite dealt with in the film. Of course, the characters don’t have the same moral quandaries that I do about what they are doing so it may be a bit unfair for me to judge them according to my own moral compass. That said, I was never really able to fully invest in their story. Past that, the film never really seems to pick up pace. Once Toto is under the tutelage of Irma we just go from contract to contract with very little outside danger or heightening of stakes. The film has a graphic realism to its that places is us right in the middle of the action but it also seems a bit lacking in heart. I never really cared about the characters because I couldn’t really tell if they cared about anything and I couldn’t really tell how they felt about what they were doing. So stylistically it’s a bit like watching a documentary filmed at a distance without any talking head interviews. Also, despite the title and the still, there is nothing at all SciFi or futuristic about this film, which was a little disappointing.

    As much as I wanted to like this film, I never quite felt an attachment to the action. Knowing the director is from the Philippines but also the son of a famous Filipino director himself, it is hard to not see the film as a bit of convenient cultural self-appropriation without true understanding. For a film that wants to be inside the minds of these contract killers, it seems hopelessly unable to capture their true nature – as if the director is too far removed from what is going on in the streets to truly tell the story. Of course, with the global notoriety of the story matter, I can easily see why this film is having success on the international circuit. In addition, Red is a known commodity whose work has been selected to represent the Philippines at the Oscars. This film just didn’t quite capture what I think could have been a really important picture of the current reality in his home country.

    Bears Ribecca Fonte Fantasia Film Festival 2018 Indie Film Review Phillipine's War On Drugs Mikhail Red
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous ArticleFantasia 2018 Review: THE MAN WHO KILLED HITLER AND THEN BIGFOOT Annihilates Its Target
    Next Article Fantasia 2018 Review: PLAYING HARD Hardly Plays As A Doc
    amfmstudios

    Related Posts

    Movie Minute

    HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Movie Minute Review

    Read More
    Movie Reviews

    Amir Kovacs on The BOOK OF JOSHUA: WALLS OF JERICHO – An Animated Epic of Faith and Triumph

    Read More
    Blockbuster Movies

    Director Dean DeBlois: Bringing HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON To Life In Live Action

    Read More

    Comments are closed.

    SEARCH BY CATEGORY
    • MOVIES
    • Music ICON
    • AUTHORS
    June 13, 2025

    Director Dean DeBlois: Bringing HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON To Life In Live Action

    June 11, 2025

    FUBAR: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carrie-Anne Moss Bring Action and Laughs to Netflix’s Hit Series Season 2

    June 6, 2025

    Kevin Smith on DOGMA: A Career-Defining Hail Mary

    April 9, 2025

    Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup For The Soul) And Children’s Book Author Miriam Laundry On “I CAN Believe In Myself”

    April 8, 2025

    Astrophysicist, Author and Social Entrepreneur Alan Lightman On Achieving Goals And Non-profit Harpswell Work in Southeast Asia

    April 3, 2025

    Wrongfully Imprisoned For 36 Years, Judy Henderson Talks About New Book “WHEN THE LIGHT FINDS US”

    AMFM INSTAGRAM
    Recent Posts
    • HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Movie Minute Review
    • Amir Kovacs on The BOOK OF JOSHUA: WALLS OF JERICHO – An Animated Epic of Faith and Triumph
    • Director Dean DeBlois: Bringing HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON To Life In Live Action
    • Resurfaced Interview with Brian Wilson, John Cusack and Director Bill Pohlad for biopic LOVE & MERCY
    • FUBAR: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carrie-Anne Moss Bring Action and Laughs to Netflix’s Hit Series Season 2
    Archives
    Movie Minute
    June 13, 20250By christine

    HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Movie Minute Review

    2 Mins Read
    Review by Paul Salfen This is Paul Salfen with your KLAK Movie Minute. In theaters this weekend is How To Train Your Dragon, the live action shot for shot remake of the beloved 2010 animated film from the original writer-director and it is truly proof that a great story can be told in many different
    Read More
    Movie Reviews
    June 13, 20250By christine

    Amir Kovacs on The BOOK OF JOSHUA: WALLS OF JERICHO – An Animated Epic of Faith and Triumph

    6 Mins Read
    In a time when stories of hope and resilience resonate deeply, Book of Joshua: Walls of Jericho, a beautifully crafted animated feature, brings the timeless Old Testament tale to life. Premiering on major VOD platforms like Apple TV and Fandango starting June 3, 2025, this film offers a powerful journey of faith, courage, and divine
    Read More
    Blockbuster Movies
    June 13, 20250By christine

    Director Dean DeBlois: Bringing HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON To Life In Live Action

    5 Mins Read
    Interview by Paul Salfen In an engaging conversation with Paul Salfen from AMFM Magazine, acclaimed Canadian writer, director, and producer Dean DeBlois shared his excitement and insights about the live-action adaptation of DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon. Known for his Oscar-nominated work on Disney’s Lilo & Stitch (2002) and the original animated How to
    Read More
    Majors
    June 11, 20250By christine

    Resurfaced Interview with Brian Wilson, John Cusack and Director Bill Pohlad for biopic LOVE & MERCY

    3 Mins Read
    On June 11, 2025, the music world mourns the loss of Brian Wilson, the legendary creative force behind The Beach Boys, whose innovative harmonies and visionary compositions reshaped pop music. In light of his passing, we revisit a poignant interview from the making of Love & Mercy, the 2014 biopic that captured Wilson’s genius and
    Read More
    Copyright AMFMSTUDIOS LLC
    • About
    • Privacy
    • Contact
    • Cookie Policy (US)
    Copyright AMFMSTUDIOS LLC
    • About
    • Privacy
    • Contact
    • Cookie Policy (US)

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.