In his distinctive quasi-documentary style, acclaimed Filipino director Brillante Mendoza delves into the dark side of Manila, a city overrun by drug dealers and infested with corruption and violence. But since the government has declared open war against the local cartels, things are supposed to change. In the opening scenes we’re thrust right into the thick of the action: preparations are underway for a complex police operation aimed at seizing a drug gang leader named Abel. We follow the unfolding effort, from surveillance to bloody confrontation, side by side with the protagonist, officer Espino, and his informant Elijah. But before the investigators arrive at the crime scene, a group of men disappear with a backpack full of money and methamphetamine. A series of events is unleashed, with professional reputations as well as human lives at stake. Mendoza’s dark thriller is exquisite in its attention to detail, both in its portrayal of city slums and in the way it dramatises a kind of police work that’s disturbingly similar to organized crime.