Imagine hundreds of bloodthirsty humans chasing a small band of officers, engaging in a deathmatch of fatal blows and gunfights aiming for each enemy’s last breath. Complete with terrifying, gut-clenching scenes of single-person targeted mass attacks and wrestling matches in dirt, mud, and blood, this film has the telltale signs of an apocalyptic zombie movie. However, renowned director Erik Matti’s BuyBust takes zombies out of the narrative and replaces them with the Filipino masses.

The film follows the drug-bust operation of a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) squad led by squad leader Bernie Lacson (Victor Neri) with newly-inducted police officers Rico Yatco (Brandon Vega), Lacson (Sheenly Gener), Gelo Elia (AJ Muhlach), and Nina Manigan (Anne Curtis). Using mid-level dealer Teban (Alex Calleja) as bait to take down drug lord Biggie Chen (Arjo Atayde), the squad weaves their way through Gracia ni Maria, a maze-like slum in Manila. Set in the timeframe of a single night, the suspense builds with each scene; from the undercover meetups to the incessant, brutal shootouts between the drug dealers and PDEA. Caught in between the crossfire, the locals of the slum join the war to avenge the deaths of their citizens who were treated as collateral damage.





Definitely not for the faint-hearted, BuyBust gives its audience an emotional pounding with its relentless energy. Seemingly staged to look like a video game of having to conquer stages of battles one after another, each aspect of the movie is meant to keep viewers hungry for more. The production design is filled to the brim with details where even neon lights and small alleyways were put to serve a functional purpose to the story, and not just for the “aesthetic.” Director of Photography Neil Derrick Bion engineers the camera work in a clean-cut manner, emphasizing rather on the increasing maniacal actions of the people.





The musical scoring hits the audience with a chilling realization of downfall that pulls you back to the gravity of the bloodshed happening. But in the midst of the violence, the film had the audience cheer like a crowd in a wrestling match every time one of the rabid Gracia locals hit the bucket under the hands of the squad. Only a few minutes after a rush of adrenaline would be a sinister moment of deadly silence, disturbed only by the eerie, traditional background music, and you’re left with the irony of you having cheered for the death of these innocent lives merely caught in the crossfire, only in search for vengeance for their dead.




In this way, BuyBust steps beyond the curtains of entertainment to tackle the country’s social system and politics. According to the film’s production team and cast, the film does not intend to attack any individual or entity, rather, it only mirrors what is happening in the country as of the moment. The film presents the effects of the country’s war on drugs and the government’s rampant corruption and how it leads to the destruction and demise of the masses.

Although the film is fictional, Matti still warns the public about the possibility of the story portrayed in the film into becoming a reality.

“[BuyBust] is by no way a true story but it can actually be a true story, it can happen to us,” he said.

BuyBust will hit Philippine cinemas starting tomorrow, August 1.

Photos by Bea Tan