14 year old Gary (Gary Jumawan) has been living in a small fishing village somewhere in the Philippines all his life and was meant to follow in his father's (Felicisimo Morales) footsteps and become a fisherman one day - but then his village is mysteriously burned down, and Gary's tribe is relocated to a camp in the next city. Never having been out of his village or away from the sea before, Gary finds it difficult to adjust to city life, and thus he decides to go track down his mother, member of another tribe, on his own - but he doesn't get very far as he doesn't have enough money for the bus fare. Being pretty much stranded in God-knows-where, Gary happens upon NackNack (Ronald Abugan), who takes an instant liking in the boy and takes him under his wing, making him one of his gang. For Gary, NackNack, despite not being much older, is some kind of father figure - but thing is, Gary's a gangster and seems to get into one scrub after the next, which eventually leads to him skipping town and head to the jungle to join the Mindanao People's Front, a group of guerrila fighters who have taken it upon themselves to defend their tribe's land against gouvernment interference by force. Despite NackNack's objections, Gary tags along, and the Mindanao People's Front is happy to accept fighters as young as Gary into their lines. Thing is, Gary has little idea what war he's fighting and whose side he's fighting on. And then the group gets into an ambush by gouvernment soldiers, the group scatters, NackNack is killed, and while Gary manages to slip away from the ambushers, he once again feels uprooted, so much so that when a benign farmer (Waway Saway) from a nearby village offers to take him in, his first reaction is that of distrust ...

A very compelling film that despite being based on true events and thus very specific about locations, political backgrounds and the like, has a very universal feel to it as it manages to make Gary's alienation palpable, his journey relatable even if he's (innocently) on the wrong track most of the time. And a directorial effort that manages to set bright spots in the film's dark story, beautiful and beautifully filmed locations, and a solid ensemble cast make this one an immensively watchable movie.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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