After being so disappointed by No Time to Die, it’s reasonable to ask if it’s even possible to make decent action movies set in the modern era. This film from the Philippines makes for a great counterexample as it limits the scope of its action to reasonable levels. Despite its limited budget, its cinematography is fantastic and it doesn’t compromise on its plot and character development either. This is admittedly a very dark film but that this what it means to treat the subject of violence and killings seriously. It seems that I was way late in hearing about this and this was successful enough that an American remake is in the planning.

Mario and Daniel are ostensibly imprisoned but they are frequently let out by corrupt prison officials to perform contract killings, with Mario being the assassin and Daniel his apprentice. After each job, they are allowed a short stint of freedom so Mario uses this time to visit his wife and daughter and give them money. The investigation into their latest victim is passed from local police sergeant Acosta to a young NBI agent Francis Coronel and his partner on the orders of Coronel’s father-in-law, the congressman Manrique. As Mario and Daniel kill more targets including a former police officer, Acosta realizes that they are all people who know about the assassination scheme. Coronel finds out that the ring is run by General Pacheco, a military officer now running for a seat in the Philippines Senate and a political ally of his father-in-law. He must choose between loyalty to his family and his integrity. Meanwhile Mario is due to be let out of prison soon and his handler says that the jobs will be handed over to Daniel. He begins to fear that Daniel will be ordered to kill him just as he killed his own mentor many years ago.

There is a lot going on in this film, probably a little too much as the revelation of Coronel’s father being somehow involved as well feels too on-the-nose for me. I do love how complete it is though as it provides a thorough picture of how the scheme works and why hiding the assassins within a prison makes for such great cover. It also establishes how the bosses only use people that they are absolutely sure they have full control over as they know where they are from and who their family members are. It’s especially daring how director Erik Matti understands that Mario and Daniel, despite being amoral killers, really are the film’s protagonists and so expends a lot of effort to develop their characters and establish a genuine sense of camaraderie between them. That real loyalty is why the sense of impending and inevitable betrayal weighs so heavily and is so dramatic. It’s not much of a spoiler to say that there is no happy ending here and how could there be as the corruption reaches all the way to the top of the Philippines government. A film this bold could never have been made in Malaysia.

As my wife notes, the camera work and lighting are Hollywood-level production quality and looks great. There are relatively few scenes of outright violence and what there is is over and done with quick. The hitmen don’t want to engage in firefights. They want to kill from stealth and run away quickly. This makes the violence and foot chases far more realistic and therefore filled with tension in my book. Another thing I took note of is how poor the country looks in this film. It’s expected to see impoverished slums and dilapidated police stations, but even the hospital shown here looks grimy and run down. The only thing that looks modern and well-appointed are the insides of the houses of the rich like Manrique. The stark disparity in wealth is shocking even to someone as jaded as me. I’ve never personally been to the Philippines but I’d have thought that the country in general was richer than this. One of my favorite little touches is Acosta getting a banana stick snack from a street vendor and then not paying because he has no money on him. The poor vendor then plaintively begs for Acosta to please pay. It’s a far better statement on poverty than any scene of exaggerated suffering.

Certainly the reality of Philippine society at present makes it the perfect setting for crime thrillers and their government is permissive or at least weak enough to permit this level of criticism. I have apprehensions about the sequel as its running time is so long but this impressed me enough that I’m sure I’ll get around to watching this eventually. As I said, I’d watch anything from any country so long as it is comparable in quality to the best in the world and this is one action thriller that is very much world-class.