Metro Manila (2013)
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 22
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 0
liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 260
Movie Info
A desperate family from the northern Philippines finds that city living has its share of dangers after moving to Manila. With life in the rice fields looking particularly grim, Oscar Ramirez decides to raise his children in Manila. When Oscar lands a job with an armored truck company, it appears he has made the right move. But a high mortality rate among his coworkers and some shady business dealings at work soon lead Oscar to wonder if his family would have been better off in the country. ~
Jul 17, 2013 Wide
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All Critics (22) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (22) | Rotten (0)
It's pacy, engrossing, and Jake Macapagal's turn as the plucky schmuck protagonist is stellar
Top CriticBoasts the stock characters and situations, sentimentality, foreshadowing and melodrama of soap opera. Yet by cleverly blending these ingredients with those of an action caper, the pic presents a fresher appeal.
It's drama, it's crime, it's a story of a family's survival against the struggle of life and even though it lacks the blood, gore, zombies and the monsters of the Fantasia Film Festival, Metro Manila is a horror story in its own unflinching way.
The story is perhaps a bit too tidy, broadly signposting both themes and plot twists, but a natural cast and the urgent camerawork make it a riveting ride.
There's a tenderness in the depiction of the central family which was notably lacking from Ellis's earlier work, and the nuts and bolts of the heist narrative are handled with slow-burn dexterity.
One of the most enrapturing experiences I've had at the movies in 2013: fiercely, grandly humanist, and almost unbearably tragic.
Metro Manila may be rife with well-worn genre devices, but this sporadically creative thriller is bolstered by Sean Ellis's keen eye for both visceral action and relationship drama.
The influence of Ken Loach makes way for the dynamics of a Quentin Tarantino-style heist. The result is an expertly crafted heartbreaker that cuts to the core of desperate lives.
Ellis proves that the slow-burning thriller can still work as both an entertainment and as a penetrating social critique.
Tales of country innocents corrupted by the big city have been a staple of cinema since the silent era, but the theme is bracingly updated here, in the colourful squalor of modern-day Manila.
Characterisation basic. But plot well-turned and pace moodily rubato, as in the best kind of B-movie.
Good but could have been great.
It begins as a swirling drama of survival in the Filipino capital - but then suddenly it slips off down an alleyway, only to emerge a scrupulously engineered, Christopher Nolan-ish crime thriller.
There's a visceral sense of urgency in this cleverly made thriller that holds our attention even when the plot begins to feel over-constructed.
Metro Manila is an intense and emotionally gripping crime drama with a powerful narrative, arresting cinematography and some truly impressive performances from its cast, and Jake Macapagal in particular.
Brit filmmaker Sean Ellis does terrific work balancing the disparate elements of his crime-laced drama. Recommended.
A moving morality tale set in a world rarely seen in western cinema, Metro Manila is an underdog drama that feels as authentic as it is original.
Metro Manila is a film to be reckoned with, offering a gripping narrative, poetic imagery and some social commentary to boot.
Metro Manila comes up trumps in every respect, but particularly within its narrative.
This immaculately composed heist flick-cum-morality play just might bring Hollywood knocking on Sean Ellis' door.
Where Sean Ellis's film really succeeds is in the atmospheric backdrop of Manila and the sheer intensity of the city's Quezon city slum community.
Audience Reviews for Metro Manila
In my recent review of the impressive 'Mister John', I discussed the recent trend that has seen European film-makers relocate themselves to the East in order to get movies made cheaply and on their own terms. British director Sean Ellis ('The Broken', 'Cashback') is the latest to join this talent drain and the result is 'Metro Manila', by far the best product of this ex-pat movement.
It's a film that could be set in any big city but I suspect that had it been made in London, for example, it would be a very different film, likely filled with a cast of bad actors with dodgy "mockney" accents. Relocating to a part of the world rarely seen on film removes a lot of baggage and allows Ellis a fresh start in a genre, the urban crime movie, that has been decimated by years of untalented Tarantino wannabes.
The great gritty crime dramas of the seventies ('The French Connection', 'Busting', 'Straight Time') were based around characters who managed to be both tangible and bigger than life. The central characters here, Oscar and his professional mentor Ong (Arcilla), are entirely captivating. If this movie didn't take a brilliant twist into the crime genre, simply watching these two men hang out on the streets of Manila would still make for a great movie. Macapagal gives one of the best lead performances of the year; he's a brilliantly natural actor and I defy anyone not to warm to his portrayal of a man whose situation seems dire yet keeps on smiling. Arcilla is an incredibly charismatic performer, perfectly cast as someone who keeps you guessing as to just how trustworthy he is. The dynamic between the two recalls the great buddy movies of the past. There's a simple scene where the two men stop off for a chicken lunch that provides an incredible and unexpectedly heart-warming moment. But Ellis never lets you get too cosy; as the narrator of Edgar G Ulmer's noir classic 'Detour' says, this is a film where "fate can put the finger on you for no good reason at all".
Western cinema seems intent on ignoring the current global economic crisis but Ellis' film is a Munchian roar of working class discontent. While the likes of 'Slumdog Millionaire' and 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' glamorize squalor in order for white middle-class audiences to sleep comfortably afterwards, 'Metro Manila' has no evidence of a distilled western gaze. There's nothing cute or glamorous about the situation the characters find themselves in here and we're always aware of the role money plays in this story.
On a technical level, this film is a triumph. Ellis edits and shoots his set-pieces to create a nerve-wracking level of tension and the street level photography really gives you a sense of place. I walk through noisy city streets everyday, but it was only after leaving the screening of 'Metro Manila', with its wonderful cacophony of urban white noise, that I realized just how noisy my own city is.
Fox has bought up the rights to remake 'Metro Manila', but take my advice and don't wait for its inevitably more Westernized impostor. Like the chicken wrap that features so heavily in the film, this tale should be consumed while it's fresh.
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Foreign Titles
- Metro Manilla (FR)
