Green Bones (2024)

To judge me by the color of my bones

Green Bones is a cinematic masterpiece from start to finish, certainly, in terms of plot, acting, cinematography, but most in terms of leaving the audience contemplating upon and questioning their beliefs and morals.

The concept of green bones - that when one's remains contain the green bones, it is a display of their innate goodness. The concept in itself dictates that there is no way of knowing of a person is truly good during their life. But this is the belief that one of our leads, corrections officer Xavier Gonzaga lives with. After a past experience that left him believing there is only absolute goodness or absolute evil in the world, his entire worldview is shaken when he takes up his first assignment. Even then, he is resolute in his beliefs and carrying his prejudice, which has grown to become his safety blanket, he starts off on a path to ensure that our other lead, Domingo Zamora, never leaves the correctional facility.

But this steadfastness only lasts a while, because unlike he trusted, there is no way to tell if a human is good or evil, and there is no absolute on either end. We, along with Xavier, learn about Zamora's past, and all the decisions that led to him as he is in the present. The more he learns, the more he discovers, that Zamora may consider himself a bad person - but there is no way to judge him on the deeds he considered have made him a bad person.

All of this culminates in a harrowing last 30 minutes that changes Xavier as a person, and leaves the audience contemplating on the complex nature of humankind.

This was not an easy watch - it was mentally taxing to witness, not simply because of the scenes, but in their deeper understanding. It keeps you guessing and on the edge, and leaves you feeling completely drained. And honestly, it is worth the watch. It asks important questions, but doesn't really answer them, no, because they are for the audience to contemplate on. The acting completely complements this complex conundrum - both Dennis Trillo and Ruru Madrid give it their all.

I would highly recommend , but fair warning - this is not something that is an easy watch, and it surely lingers on your mind.

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Excellent Movie with Great Acting Performances

I'm not intro prisoner movies but I was so excited for this movie the moment it was announced because of the cast (Dennis Trillo plus featuring Iza Calzado) and the director (Zig Dulay, who directed one of my favorite Filipino series Maria Clara at Ibarra). It did not disappoint.

Surely there are some parts of the story that is a bit predictable (I kind of guessed that Dennis's character is nicer than he is, why else would a movie that stars him as a prisoner be a movie about hope and kindness?). However the way the story is presented still amazes me. I love the fact that we are presented a complete picture of the story through two different narratives/points of view. First, from Ruru's Javier character, where we understand why he thinks criminals can never be repentant of their actions and then later on Dennis's Domingo, where we learn that we never really know a person's real personality unless we actually spend time with the person.

I thought Dennis's character Domingo has some similarities with Flower of Evil's (https://kisskh.at/54625-flower-of-evil) main character Do Hyun Soo, both are suspected criminals, both are talented in woodcarving, both have close relationships with a little girl. Even with the characters having similarities (even both shows have a theme of even a person who appears or has done wicked things in the past, he/she can show some goodness), Green Bones is still very different from Flower of Evil, and its plot is very unique.

The acting performances are also great. From the trailers alone, it's very obvious that Dennis has amazing range and acting capabilities. You see him as the character, not as Dennis Trillo playing the character (I especially felt this as I'm currently watching his TV series Pulang Araw where he played a ruthless Japanese officer). He has good chemistry with the little girl who played his niece Ruth (Sienna Stevens). This is my first time watching Ruru Madrid and he certainly was able to held his own against Dennis Trillo. Wendell Ramos is effective as a ruthless guard, he really was so scary in this movie. I also enjoyed seeing Alessandra De Rossi and Iza Calzado, both gave great performances despite their acting parts being short (I also love Iza and Dennis's family chemistry). The girls who played Ruth (Sienna Stevens and Sofia Pablo) are also great rising young actresses. I love seeing Mikoy Morales here after Pulang Araw, it's hilarious to see him and Dennis being friends here when Dennis's Pulang Araw character tortured his (Mikoy) character.

I'll rate this movie 9.5/10

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