Manila (2009)

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Two up-and-coming Philippine filmmakers, Raya Martin and Adolfo B. Alix Jr., offer tales of life on the mean streets of the nation's biggest city in this two-part drama. In the first story, William (Piolo Jose Pascual) is a junkie who needs to score heroin. When a buy is interrupted by cops,… More Two up-and-coming Philippine filmmakers, Raya Martin and Adolfo B. Alix Jr., offer tales of life on the mean streets of the nation's biggest city in this two-part drama. In the first story, William (Piolo Jose Pascual) is a junkie who needs to score heroin. When a buy is interrupted by cops, Williams is left without dope and is on the run from the law, and he scours the underbelly of the city in desperate search of a fix. Meanwhile, William's mother (a former Madame with underworld connections) and girlfriend both fear the worst and try to find him before he buys more drugs or runs afoul of the police. In the second part, Piolo Jose Pascual returns as Phillip, who works as a bodyguard for Barry (Jay Manalo), the hard-partying son of a wealthy and powerful politician. Phillip sometimes feel disloyal to Barry because of his infatuation with Amy (Alessandra De Rossi), Barry's lover of the moment. Phillip reveals his true commitment to his boss when they're accosted by a street gang and Phillip shoots a man trying to hurt Barry. However, Barry doesn't want any part of the possible legal repercussions and fires Phillip to distance himself from the situation, leaving him to fend for himself against a gang bet on revenge. Manila also features a short final sequence directed by Lav Diaz; the film was an official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi