Metro Manila

Sean Ellis' Mero Manila (Philippines, 2013) - Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World Premiere. A naive farming couple from the picturesque but impoverished rice-growing region of Banaue, northern Philippines, come to grief in the crime-ridden capital in Brit helmer Sean Ellis's polished Tagalog-language soap opera-cum-heist pic "Metro Manila." Overlong, sometimes inventive, and with a self-indulgent tendency to exploit cliche as if it didn't exist, the pic might be able to parlay its Sundance World Cinema audience award into wider international exposure. French distributor Haut et Court signed on just before the festival screenings. 2013SUN. RATING: 7