It’s more of an emotional reaction to a period and a milieu I happen to have some familiarity with. “Manila’s Finest” is set in a precinct of the Manila Police from 1969 to 1972, a time of great social and political turmoil. I covered murders and suicides, visited the city morgue at three in the morning and joined cops on their drives along Ermita, checking on vagrants, just like in the movie. Most of all, “Manila’s Finest” deserves and indeed demands a sequel, into the time of tokhang, when the moral choices facing the police became even starker. But as it is, at least for me, “Manila’s Finest” may indeed have been the finest of its kind this year.

Source: Philippine Star January 04, 2026 16:09 UTC