Inspired by a tv documentary made by the same director, Children’s Show tells the story of children ages 13-15 being exploited by a powerful syndicate managing a betting game involving underground fighting.
Al and Jun, two fraternal twin brothers, earn a living by doing the oddest jobs and stints available, from pedicab driving in the bustling streets of Manila to jobs involving gangs and fraternities. Their grandmother Lola Alice, even at her advanced age, manages to raise them and nurture them, despite the extreme poverty their family lives in. The boys’ mother committed suicide at 35; their father went to live with his second family after his wife’s untimely demise.
Due to the need (and desire) to earn extra money, the brothers engage into the clandestine fistfight matches held by several middlemen and syndicates wanting to exploit the children’s vulnerability. In this place, the boys find a solution to their problems. Jun finds love in the form of Kara, 15, a fellow fighter in these matches.
The brothers fight their way to success, but the sudden return of their estranged father turns things upside down. In a bout of violence over their saving, which their father wants to steal, Al falls to the ground, that result to fracturing his leg that result to amputation. The father, coming to his senses, runs away, leaving a hysterical Lola Alice calling for help.
Jun manages to earn more in the fistfight that he gives enough money to Lola Alice for the shanty’s needed house repairs and for he to buy Al a second-hand wheelchair, while his girlfriend Kara, unaware of he own pregnancy, suffers a miscarriage due to the fights.
A bout between Jun and his father convinces his grandmother that the father will leave them alone for good. The boys battle it out for survival day by day in the hope that time will come when the black and blue on their eyes, scars, fears and traumas will be just be a memory long gone.
DIRECTED BY:
Roderick Cabrido
MAIN CAST:
Allen Dizon, Gloria Sevilla, Suzette Ranillo, Nathan Lopez, Jacob Clayton, Divine Grace Aucina, Buboy Villar, Miggs Cuaderno
Point of View
Derick Cabrido's Children's Show was an unflinching look at a Fight Club-esque underground match for kids. Bordered too much on melodrama that it actually had one character in full tulo uhog mode. Still, a decent effort. The kids (especially Buboy Villar) were really good.
POV By: Jason Javier
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