BuyBust (2018)

Directed by

Erik Matti

Genre

martial arts film

Country

Philippines

Runtime

2h 07m

Rated

18

Rating

6.0 of 10 from 64 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A team of Philippine drug enforcement agents goes into a Manila slum for a drug bust. The mission goes wrong and they get trapped by the residents, forcing them to fight their way out.

tensegrittybrutalclaustrophobicfast-pacednon-stopchaoticbleaksocially charged

What happens

BuyBust (stylized as BUYBUST) is a 2018 Philippine action thriller film co-written and directed by Erik Matti. It stars an ensemble cast top-billed by Anne Curtis and Brandon Vera. The plot centers on a team summoned by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to conduct a drug bust in a Manila slum. Realizing the mission is poorly executed, the team find themselves trapped by settlers and attempts to escape by fighting their way out. The film has been viewed as a social commentary on the controversial Philippine drug war initiated by the Duterte government. Production on Matti's "first full-on action film" began in 2016, and Curtis and Vera were cast as leads the following year. On a budget of ₱86 million, principal photography began in March 2017. The film premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) on June 29, 2018, had a wide Philippine release on August 1 and a limited North American release on August 10. Critical reception to the film was generally favorable, attaining praise for its action scenes, theme, technical aspects and Curtis' against-type performance, but was often criticized for its similarities with the 2011 Indonesian film The Raid. It grossed ₱97 million worldwide. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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