Without the knowledge that Manila is not a paradise, Oscar Ramirez, together with his

wife, Mai Ramirez and their children went to Manila with hopes of having a better life and

opportunities. Not aware of the sad reality of Metro Manila, which is a dark, overpopulated

and polluted environment, Oca and his family thought they could escape poverty.

Consequently, Oscar Ramirez (Jake Macapagal) portrayed the role of a poor farmer

from Banaue. His faith was put to test, but being born as a poor man, his hope to have a

stable life lives in him. He is a good father to his children. Mai Ramirez (Althea Vega),

Oscar’s wife labors from abject squalor. Left with no choice, Mai accepted a job unwillingly

in order to help provide for her family. She set aside her dignity and worked as a prostitute

in a night club. Mai is a person with strong personality who is fit for surviving in the slums

of Manila.

Subsequently, Douglas Ong (John Arcilla), an immediate boss of Oscar depicts a

deceitful character which is a welcoming surprise since his role on the first part of the

movie is to help Oscar and his family, but it turns out he is just concealing his underbelly.

On the other hand, Buddha (Moises Magisa), Ong’s big boss is a laugh-hungry employer

who required Oscar to crack a sensual joke during the job interview.

Next is Charlie (Miles Canapi), the owner of a hostess bar where Mai worked. For me,

Charlie is the typical type of character who exploits women to leer men and earn money.

In fact, her role appears to be merciless in the scene where she asked Mai if her daughter

could work on the bar too for extra income. Another character was Dora (Ana Abad-

Santos), Ong’s wife who appears to be kind to conceal her underbelly of being greedy and

poisonously seductive. Lastly was J.J (Reuben Uy) who became Oscar’s postman when

he died. J.J is a flat character who does his job without personal attachments.

The setting of the story started from the province of Banaue until the Ramirez’ travelled

to Metro Manila. Poverty is already a cliché in our country, but here it seems fresh, the

setting of Manila where we are privy of its darker picture – its seedy underbellies,

desperate slums, violent environment and inevitable danger. This is what a real Metro

Manila is for poor people. It is amazing how Ellis, the director, presented its main setting,

Metro Manila as a beautiful monstrosity with its towering skylines of Makati, business

districts and busy cafes coexisted with the splendid squalor of the darker Manila.
 Metro Manila movie is a fiction, yet it is based on real places and real – life encounters.

Oscar Ramirez as a farmer earns a very little amount of money which is not enough for his

family; this led him with the choice of going to Manila with his family. After they set feet on

Manila, they never knew they were screwed at that moment when their rent money was

stolen – now they don’t have something to eat, and a roof to live. Out of desperation, Mai

worked as a hostess in a bar and Oscar found a job as a security and driver for a private

armoured vehicle company.

Then a turn of events happen, Ong, Oca’s immediate boss happens to reveal his

underbelly with the reality of framing up Oscar in a sin he did not do. Things got messy,

Ong died and Oscar was left with no choice, so he did the most real and attainable way to

get up from the mud. There was a shocking and strong point conclusion, if you want to

know it, you must watch the movie. It set the most painful, yet meaningful tone.

For me, the central theme of the story is about poverty. Everything started with poverty

– the reason why they have to go to Manila is poverty, the reason why they have to make

tough choices and sacrifices roots from poverty. With poverty, sub themes emerge on the

movie. The character’s actions affect each other indirectly. The characters responded to

their situations according to what Oscar said, a desperate situation calls for a desperate

action.

The Marxist Theory is absolutely evident in the movie since it showed how tragic the

poor lives in the society just like how the Ramirez’ lived in the slums of Manila. Next is how

the upper class interacted with the lower class. It showed there how Oscar and Ong

interacted with their rich clients during the days they deliver and fetch money to be placed

on the box. Even without explanation, through the clips of poverty in the movie, you will

eventually see the Marxism. In fact, the subplot of the story which is about an

entrepreneur’s son, Alfred Santos (JM Rodriguez) revenged through revolutionizing

against the corrupted and congested rule of the society. Therefore, Metro Manila suggests

that people, places, or situations are never plain as they seem – that there are complexity,

burdensome, colorful and tragic stories behind them; it was a movie worth seeing to its

very end.