"Metro Manila" Review: Oscar-worthy? Yes.

Did "Metro Manila" win huge awards? Yes, a lot. Was it nominated for an Oscar? No, and it's a shame. Does this movie deserve huge praise? Yes, and here's why.

Metro Manila is 2013 indie film by British director Sean Ellis, which stars Jake Macapagal, Althea Vega and John Arcilla.

First of all, the plot is simple. It's about corruption in Metro Manila, in which the ones in the lower part of the food chain are the ones that are affected the most. But even though it's that simple, the film presents it in a raw, complex way. The ending was very poignant and leaves you thinking. Is Metro Manila really that vile? Unfortunately, it's all accurate- the slums, the crime, it's all real.

"Metro Manila" looks and feels very, very surreal; as if the actors were actually real people in that real situation, and the whole movie is just them capturing real struggles like a documentary. The actors, specifically Jake Macapagal as Oscar, delivers a real performance as a frustrated father. No overacting, just raw performance. I'd say Oscar deserves an Oscar. Heh.

Speaking of Oscars, this film was selected as the British entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 2013 Oscars (86th Academy Awards), but was not freaking nominated. Still, it won the Audience Award for Dramatic International Films at the 2013 Sundance Festival, Hamburg Film Critic Award at the Filmfest Hamburg, Grand Jury Prize at the Polar Festival de Cognac and many, many more.

Should it include Best Foreign Language Film at the 2013 Oscars. Yes. Yes, it should've.

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Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Manila_(film)