A beautifully shot piece about social class disparities
Filipiñana is the feature film debut of writer-director Rafael Manuel. Set at a posh golf course in the Philippines, the film follows the working-class teenager Isabel (Jorrybell Agoto) as she silently struggles to assimilate into such an exclusive environment. Manuel satirises the privilege and naïvety of the wealthy, and the desperation of the working class to appeal to them, creating a work of witty, dark comedy.
The film’s opening is strong. We see a bustling, impoverished street from the point of view of a tour bus carrying rich Chinese tourists to the country club. Here, Manuel exposes the tendencies of the privileged to treat minorities as if they were attractions at a zoo, pressing their faces up to the glass and watching, with a mix of intrigue and confusion, as they suffer through their harsh environment. The looks of idiotic bewilderment on the tourists’ faces would be comical if the events outside the bus weren’t truly harrowing – Filipiñana is a film that masterfully plays with our emotions!
The camera placements brilliantly tell a story of class imbalance, and Agoto is an expert in how she appears in each scene. At one point, the camera is between the open legs of a golfer, pointing at her sitting in between them and leaning down on cue to place the ball down for him. Her stoic expression is childlike in its simplicity, yet her eyes reveal Isabel’s exhaustion and alienation, a sickening acceptance of her submission to the people she serves. Agoto’s performance, though of few words, is very riveting. Isabel is an intriguing character, also a testament to Manuel’s ability to create richly detailed protagonists using only their surroundings and actions (or lack thereof) instead of words.
Xenia Patricia’s cinematography is stunning. Filipiñana is a visually beautiful film, its colours bright and captivating. We are sucked into the beauty of this country club, the impossibly clean pastels of the servants’ outfits and the glossy marble of the architecture. And yet, Manuel reminds us, through Isabel’s perspective, that we too are outsiders. Filipiñana is as uncanny as it is visually appealing. It is difficult, as an audience member, to draw your attention away from the scenery, yet you feel almost terrified of fully immersing yourself in the world Manuel has created.
Frustratingly, Filipiñana can feel rather slow. Upon first watch, it may seem that Manuel has favoured style over substance; yes, the cinematography is undeniably beautiful, and we may long to lie on the bright green grass under the plentiful sprinklers like young Isabel, but sometimes it seems like nothing is really happening. The satirical aspect of Filipiñana can be difficult to notice (except for the country club workers breaking into a synchronised, robotic dance routine) unless you squint, which, for a 100-minute viewing, can be quite boring. But overall, though this film isn’t particularly exciting or entertaining, it is still a rather good, intellectual piece of work, and I wonder what Manuel will show us next!
Filipiñana was screened at the BFI Screening Rooms on November 10, 2026.