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WATCH LIST
Director: Ben Rekhi Cast: Alessandra de Rossi, Jake Macapagal, Art Acuña, Jess Mendoza, Angeli Bayani, Timothy Mabalot, Micko Laurente MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:34 Release Date: 8/21/20 (virtual cinema); 9/1/20 (digital & on-demand) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 31, 2020 With the ascension of Rodrigo Duterte to the presidency of the Philippines, there has come a rise of extra-judicial and vigilante killings of drug addicts and dealers—real or suspected. The trend is horrific, and perhaps more horrifying is the support for such murders, especially among the socioeconomic group being targeted—the impoverished. Watch List, a thriller that follows a widowed mother as she becomes involved in such killings, is a tough and despairing dramatization of the terror, the desperation, and the inherent corruption of a government's "war on drugs." In an almost miraculous move, co-writer/director Ben Rekhi and his crew filmed this story in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines—only miles from the heart of the country's current government. It follows Maria (Alessandra de Rossi), a recovered drug addict who, with her husband, is forced to join a "second chance" program run by the government. Shortly after their names are put on an official list, the husband is dead—shot in the street by men on a motorcycle. Maria investigates and soon learns that the rehabilitation program is just a ruse to get targets on a list. Desperate for her life and, more importantly, the lives of her three children, she approaches Ventura (Jake Macapagal), a local cop, and offers to become an informant, in exchange for being removed from the list. On her first mission, Maria discovers that Alvin (Art Acuña), her on-the-street contact, is the leader of a murderous vigilante group, doing the cops' bidding. Rekhi and Rona Lean Sales' screenplay is undeniably and brutally critical of government policy. That's particularly true in the way it shows how the foundation of this so-called war is creating a dehumanized portrait of anyone involved in drugs, as well as how her participation in the "war" inevitably dulls Maria's own sense of humanity. The fear, of course, is that the filmmakers might be exploiting real-world corruption, tragedy, and authoritarianism for thrills, but there are no thrills to be found here. The film is grounded, both in its form (Rekhi employs a vérité approach that achieves a genuine sense of realism) and in the story's focus on Maria, played with anguished desperation that becomes cold acceptance by De Rossi. Watch List shows the cost of this government's "war"—on specific people, on a class, on the social fabric—with chilling authenticity. Copyright © 2020 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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