80
It's a resourceful, distinctive film that builds to a satisfying crescendo.
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What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
The screenplay (co-written with Hollywood scribe Frank E. Flowers) boasts the stock characters and situations, sentimentality, foreshadowing and melodrama of soap opera. Yet by cleverly blending these ingredients with those of an action caper, the pic presents a fresher appeal.
80
Filmmaker Sean Ellis does terrific work balancing the disparate elements of his crime-laced drama.
60
The Hollywood Reporter by Justin Lowe
Although the pacing would have benefited from some judicious tightening, much of the film’s effectiveness is attributable to the lead actors’ well-modulated performances.
38
Slant Magazine by Kenji Fujishima
Sean Ellis doesn't so much understand Filipino society as merely sees it as grist for standard genre fare, perhaps hoping that the foreign setting will somehow automatically make the clichés feel fresh.
80
A moving morality tale set in a world rarely seen in western cinema, Metro Manila is an underdog drama that feels as authentic as it is original.
91
The Playlist by Nikola Grozdanovic
Metro Manila is a horror story in its own unflinching way.
80
The Telegraph by Robbie Collin
Metro Manila is so spellbound by its setting that it is a good hour before we discover what kind of film it is going to be. It begins as a swirling drama of survival in the Filipino capital — but then suddenly it slips off down an alleyway, only to emerge a scrupulously engineered, Christopher Nolan-ish crime thriller.
60
It’s false as social document, often gripping as entertainment.
60
Time Out London by Trevor Johnston
Ellis’s twisty plotting gets too clever-clever for its own good. But it’s pacy, engrossing, and Jake Macapagal’s turn as the plucky schmuck protagonist is stellar.