On the President's Orders

Name: On the President's Orders
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Documentary
Released: October 4, 2019
Duration: 72 min
Rating: 73
Cast: Jemar Modequillo, Rodrigo R. Duterte

2019

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Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) | Release Date: October 4, 2019 | TV-PG

Starring: Jemar Modequillo, Rodrigo R. Duterte

Summary: The searing story of President Duterte's bloody campaign against drug dealers and addicts in the Philippines, told with unprecedented and intimate access to both sides of the war - the Manila police, and an ordinary family from the slum. Shot in the style of a thriller, this observational film combines the look and feel of a narrativeThe searing story of President Duterte's bloody campaign against drug dealers and addicts in the Philippines, told with unprecedented and intimate access to both sides of the war - the Manila police, and an ordinary family from the slum. Shot in the style of a thriller, this observational film combines the look and feel of a narrative feature film with a real life revelatory journalistic investigation into a campaign of killings. The film uncovers a murky world where crime, drugs and politics meet in a deathly embrace - and reveal that although the police have been publicly ordered to stop extra-judicial killings, the deaths continue.… Expand

Director: James Jones and Olivier Sarbil

Genre(s): Thriller, Crime, Documentary

Rating: TV-PG

Runtime: 72 min

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Critic Reviews

Guy Lodge

Oct 17, 2019

Populist politics can turn all too easily to popcorn ones; On the President’s Orders vividly captures the tipping point. Read full review

Carlos Aguilar

Oct 17, 2019

A shockingly alarming investigation produced with the sensibilities of a social realist drama, Sarbil and Jones’ nonfiction warning should petrify U.S. viewers immeasurably. Read full review

Justin Lowe

Oct 17, 2019

There’s barely any let-up in tension throughout the film, even during interviews with subjects who could either be concealing murderous personal histories or potential victims risking their lives to disclose the excesses of law enforcement. Read full review

Ben Kenigsberg

Oct 17, 2019

The thesis of On the President’s Orders isn’t terribly original, but in a needlessly roundabout way, it makes its case that these killings are not the work of isolated individuals, but the product of a top-down culture that stems from Duterte's assent. Read full review

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