The best Joel Torre’s drama movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Joel Torre’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Joel Torre.
Captive
6.1/10
A dozen foreigners are kidnapped by a terrorist group in the Philippines.
McBain
4.8/10
Santos attempts to lead a people's revolt in Colombia to overthrow the Presidente. When his revolt fails and he is killed, his sister Christina goes to New York to find McBain, a lieutenant Santos rescued during the Vietnam War. McBain agrees to help, recruits his old war buddies, raises some cash by killing a few drug dealers, then leads an attack to topple the Colombian government.
José Rizal
7.6/10
Accused of treason, Dr. Jose P. Rizal awaits trial and meets with his colonial government-appointed counsel, Luis Taviel de Andrade. The two build the case and arguments for the defense as significant events in the central figure's life prior to his incarceration unfold. Upon hearing Rizal's life story, Taviel begins to realize that the accused not just is innocent but exhibits in fact all the qualities of an extraordinary man. When the mock trial unreels, Taviel is all set to act as the prime advocate for his client as Rizal himself is about to give an earth-moving speech to defend his honor and address his countrymen. Meanwhile, the Spanish authorities have worked out the vast political machinery to ensure a guilty verdict. A revolution waits in the wings.
A Change of Heart
7.5/10
Three siblings Danny, Art and Grace are now well settled with their respective families, in widely contrasting lifestyles. The one common thing that binds them loosely together is the love that their mother Dolores "Loleng" Rosales holds for all of them and her grandchildren, albeit expressed in varying ways and degrees, but always equally nurturing and self-giving. Much as they are held together by her, they are in turn separated by physical distance and the sad legacy left behind by their deceased, erstwhile strong-willed, patriarchal father.
The Child
7.8/10
After working in Hong Kong for a decade to support her family, Josie (Vilma Santos) returns home to find her children's lives in ruins. Since their father's death five years ago, her daughters (Claudine Barretto and Shiela Junsay) and son (Baron Geisler) have made their way through life without their mother. But with a lack of parental guidance, they're on a path to destruction. Can Josie ever repair the damage her long absence has caused?
Amigo
6.4/10
Rafael, a village mayor caught in the murderous crossfire of the Philippine-American War. When U.S. troops occupy his village, Rafael comes under pressure from a tough-as-nails officer to help the Americans in their hunt for Filipino guerilla fighters. But Rafael's brother is the head of the local guerillas, and considers anyone who cooperates with the Americans to be a traitor. Rafael quickly finds himself forced to make the impossible, potentially deadly decisions faced by ordinary civilians in an occupied country.
Evolution of a Filipino Family
7.6/10
An intimate epic made with uncompromising and austere seriousness that patiently and methodically observes the collapse and hopeful revival of a poor farming clan.
Bagets 2
7.2/10
Set in the immediate summer after the events of the first movie, and deals with more of the guys' misadventures as they prepare for college.
Unfaithful Wife
7.1/10
The film concerns the attempts of Fidel to resume a normal life after the devastation wrought by his wife's death. He returns to his old friend Crispin and wife Irene. A tentative effort with another woman fails, and Fidel finds himself in Irene's arms. That same evening a young girl is brutally murdered. Fidel, unable to account for his whereabouts, is named the principal suspect, which later leads to his imprisonment. Crispin, meanwhile, learns of Irene's infidelity; his friendship is put to the test when Fidel escapes, gets wounded, and asks Crispin to kill him and put him out of misery.
First Time
6.9/10
Three stories, all first times
Die Beautiful
7.5/10
Trisha, a Filipino transgender woman, suddenly dies while being crowned in a beauty pageant. Her last wish was to be presented as a different celebrity on each night of her wake.
Kuya
7/10
The adventures and misadventures of a group of teenagers, chronicling their pain and the lessons learned along the way.
The Patriarch
7/10
Andres is a well-liked, respected, and middle-aged fisherman who rents out commercial spaces to people in the town market. Ge seems to have everything a man could ever need: a loving family, a home, sustenance, and good friends he can trust. One day, he discovers several bricks of shabu floating in the sea. With his discovery, everything begins to change.
Miracle in Cell No. 7
7.5/10
Joselito (Aga Muhlach) is a mentally-challenged man who is wrongfully charged with sexually assaulting and murdering a little girl. In prison, he becomes friends with his fellow inmates and together they form a plan to smuggle his young daughter (Xia Vigor) inside the cell! Years after, his daughter (Bela Padilla) becomes a lawyer and is determined to prove her father's innocence.
Tisay
In the world of semi-pro basketball, a beautiful bookie recruits a naïve but promising player to the underworld of game-fixing.
Felix Manalo
4.1/10
Felix Yzagun Manalo is a sprawling historical epic that traces the origin of Iglesia Ni Cristo (The Church of Christ) which is established in the Philippines from its humble beginnings in 1914 through the present day.
Milagros
7.3/10
Milagros is a prostitute who becomes the maid of a family of four men. With them, she finds the family she never had. With her, each man finds the salvation he needs. Together, they begin to tear each other apart.
A Secret Affair
5.1/10
Rafi (Anne Curtis) is happily committed to her lovely partner in life, Mark (Derek Ramsay). She's a bachelorette from a rich family, who belongs to the "Friday Club", the regular get-together of her college friends. Rafi is an attention-getter because of her in and out beauty and impressive credentials. But one day, a major life decision shifts everyone's impression of her. Sam (Andi Eigenmann), a rebellious, carefree and happy-go-lucky woman, who thinks that she can get away with her every dilemma. However, her perspectives turn 180 degrees when she meets the man who unexpectedly changes her life.
Of the Flesh
7.2/10
A groom takes his city bride to his hometown to settle in his father's house. Struck by her uncanny resemblance to his dead wife, the patriarch is driven to lust after his daughter-in-law. When things come to a head, a violent family quarrel ensues and leads to tragedy. A middle-aged spinster recounts the tale to reveal her identity and trace the downfall of the landowning clan trapped in the past.
Namets!
7.4/10
Follows the flirtation between Manuel and Lourdes, two Negrosanon whose lives revolve around food. Along the way, we are treated to the full panorama of Negrosanon cuisine and the idiosyncrasies of Negrosanon eating.
