A story about redemption and hope, ‘Green Bones’ plays out like a sort of dark fairy tale through the filmmaking choices of everyone involved, which allows the movie to play with form and structure in inventive ways that helps take us on an emotional journey about justice and redemption and really exploring the role of prisons in our society. Written by Ricky Lee and Anj Atienza (from a story by JC Rubio) and directed by Zig Dulay, the movie quickly recalls the film ‘Shawshank Redemption’ with Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman but this film carries its own magic. Despite its subject matter, Dulay and Director of Photography Neil Daza manages to create an almost mythical world for this story about the penal system in the country to take place.

Lee and Atienza also manage to play with structure and form by telling two very different stories, though essential the same narrative, by spending the first act in seeing the world through one of its leads, the young officer Xavier Gonzaga (Ruru Madrid), who enters the prison as a new warden in the island of San Fabian. Gonzaga has lost his sister to murder, and he carries his bias with him. The prison colony in San Fabian is a more humane place where the prisoners are given more freedom than what we expect. They are allowed to stay outside to garden and cook and, in the afternoons, are allowed to leave the prison to work in the farm or the fisheries and sell their wood carving projects to locals and tourists. The idea behind this system is to encourage them to repent and get back to their lives. Unfortunately, Gonzaga does not believe that murderers can be rehabilitated, and he has his sights set on Dominic Zamora (Dennis Trillo), a man who does not speak and is incarcerated for murdering his sister and his niece. Gonzaga watches Zamora closely, knowing he’s about to finish his sentence early for good conduct, and when he sees Zamora and the other inmates planning something, he decides to step in and ensure Zamora never makes it out.

The film then shifts focus on act two, as we see the story through Zamora’s perspective and details his world view and the story of how he killed his sister and his niece and how his life has changed since then. The story is quite different from Gonzaga’s take and the film manages to shift the way we look at the people that are in prison now knowing what we know about the systems that are in place in our country.

There are multiple stories here: stories about the other inmates, the friends that Zamora had cultivated; the story of the NGO worker who is constantly visiting Zamora (Alessanda de Rossi), and the story of Zamora and his sister (Iza Calzado) and his niece (Sienna Stevens in the flashbacks and Sofia Pablo at present time). Dulay is able to manage exploring multiple themes through the careful interweaving of these characters and as we know more and more about Zamora and his past, we become just like Gonzaga that our eyes are suddenly opened to our own prejudices and misconceptions.

Trillo and Madrid give out exquisite performances here. Trillo brings such a deep humanity to the character of Dominic Zamora. He is fearsome as Gonzaga imagines him to be, but he is also soft and warm and kind as we see his story play out in the second act. He is the foundation of this narrative, and he carries it so competently that the film succeeds because it has such a strong anchor holding it together. If Trillo is the foundation, then Madrid is the narrative’s driving force. Madrid embodies Gonzaga’s tunnel vision but roots it in his character’s past hurts and trauma. This is not a one-dimensional witch hunt. This is a person that’s hurting, and Madrid is able to layer his character with these stories that allows us to empathize with him even if we suspect he’s not holding all the cards. The rest of the cast is magnificent, from De Rossi and Calzado, to Michael De Mesa and Wendell Ramos (who play the other policemen in the prison) and the inmates played by Ronnie Lazaro, Royce Cabrera, Mikoy Morales, and two others whose names I wasn’t able to find.

The heart and warmth that Dulay was able to deliver in last year’s ‘Firefly’ is in full display in ‘Green Bones.’ It’s a masterful work that plays with your expectations and takes a hard look at how we think of rehabilitation and how humane are we in treating those who have strayed. The film can get dark, but it has to, because the film shines a light of hope to those who seek redemption. By the end of the film, I caught myself crying along with other members of the audience.

My Rating:

Green Bones is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.