Marlon (Arnold Reyes) in GRACELAND (Sung Rae Cho)

Marlon Villar (Arnold Reyes) is caught between the many responsibilities he has for his wife, his daughter, his boss, and his sense of right and wrong. Graceland almost seamlessly interweaves his emotional ordeal with a more general political statement about the corruption that surrounds him. Set in the city of Metro Manila in the Philippines, this frenetic film focuses on how far Marlon will go to protect his family.

Marlon is burdened with poverty, a wife in the hospital waiting for an organ transplant, and a young daughter missing her mother. He works for a wealthy congressman, Chango (Menggie Cobarrubias), the target of a tabloid story that alleges he sleeps with underage prostitutes. Marlon, Chango’s driver, is one of the few people who know that this rumor happens to be true.

The day the sex scandal breaks out, Marlon is charged with taking Chango’s daughter, Sophia, to school. He happens to bring along his daughter, Elvie. The two girls get along well and later decide to skip school for the day. Marlon catches the girls playing hooky on his way to pick them up in the afternoon, and is driving them home when a policeman stops the car. It becomes clear that this is no law enforcement officer when he gets in the passenger seat and pulls out a gun in a kidnapping attempt that goes terribly awry. Unsure how to explain the incident to Chango, Marlon hides the fact that the wrong child was taken. Both Chango and Marlon attempt to negotiate with the kidnappers, but also contend with a police detective, who is suspicious of the politician’s motives from the get-go. With quite a few twists and turns, Graceland is an unpredictable, fast-paced thriller.

The world Morales creates is dark, both through the murky and desaturated cinematography and the disturbing elements of the plot. The film opens with Chango asking Marlon to drive home a young girl the politico has just raped. It’s a shocking beginning, especially after the audience learns both men have girls about the same age. There is also nudity, and the actresses playing the victims look quite young themselves, so the effect is rather alarming.

It’s clear Marlon does not approve of Chango’s actions, but throughout he’s forced to face his guilt for idly standing by and letting his boss commit these atrocities. He’s certainly sympathetic, but it’s questionable as to whether Marlon is a hero as he overlooks some of the big issues in order to achieve his goals—his moral dilemmas propel the film. The grave issue of child prostitution is always in the background, but Marlon’s connection to corrupt politics, gang violence, and his own extreme poverty allows the film to thread all these issues together. It’s something Graceland does very well, demonstrating the overpowering nature of these kinds of crimes.