Director Erik Matti’s film BuyBust has earned a rave review from film critic Richard Kuipers of Variety, the weekly American entertainment trade publication.
In an overwhelmingly positive review posted on Monday that would convince cineastes to see the movie, Kuipers called it a “superbly executed action film” that delivers “an explosive exercise in kinetic cinema.” He also called it an “outstanding genre outing” for Matti, whose previous film credits include the cop thriller On the Job, romance drama Sa Huling Paghihintay, and the erotic movie Scorpio Nights 2.
In his Facebook post yesterday where he also shared the Variety article, Matti dedicated the review to “all the staff and crew who worked hard on the film for years. To the cast who saw it through to the end.”
Another glowing review that appeared early this week came from John Berra of movie website Screen Daily. He wrote that the movie, starring Anne Curtis as a cop, is “one of the most blistering action pictures since Mad Max: Fury Road.”
He also commended Matti for using “increasingly elaborate, superbly choreographed fights in close quarters or on rickety rooftops.”
BuyBust had its world premier on Monday at the New York Asian Film Festival, where it also served as the closing movie. The film took two years to complete, according to an Instagram post written by Matti, and taught him “how films should be made.”
Inspired by the repercussions of the country’s drug war, the film showcases Curtis in her first action role as Nina Manigan, a rookie member of the Drug Enforcement Agency squad.
She finds herself fighting for survival when a botched operation leaves her stuck in a maze-like slum, where she battles both narco henchmen and residents frustrated by the collateral damage left by the anti-drug campaign.
BuyBust will be showing in the Philippines on August 1, and will also be shown in several North American cities from August 10. It will be available for streaming on Netflix globally starting November 1.
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