The best Soliman Cruz’s drama movies

Mobster Asiong Salonga (ER Ejercito) rules the mean streets of Manila with an iron fist—until he is betrayed by a trusted friend. Manila Kingpin is based on the story of the notorious Tondo, Manila, gang leader Nicasio “Asiong” Salonga, whose true-to-life accounts had been portrayed in several movie versions since 1961 (starring Joseph Estrada). It is also the first Filipino major film produced in black-and-white in the 21st century as well as the returning action genre movie. Before the film was shown, Tikoy Aguiluz requested the producers, through his lawyers, that his directorial credits in the film and promotional tools be removed because the final version of the film can no longer be described as his after the producers made a reedit, re-shoot and music mixing without his involvement. He also demanded that he be allowed to make a director's cut of the film.

A story about victims of summary executions. Three people start a strange therapy to escape their agonies.

The film begins with his capture by Philippine and US forces under Frederick Funston's command in 1901, then flashes back to 1886, when an old woman gives Aguinaldo and his childhood friend Candido Tirona cryptic prophecies. Ten years later, Aguinaldo is inducted into the Katipunan and later assumes leadership of its Cavite chapter while becoming mayor of Cavite El Viejo. When the trouble breaks out in Manila in late August 1896, Aguinaldo tries to assure the Spanish provincial government of non-interference and covertly marshals his forces despite a lack of weapons. Learning that the Spanish mostly put their forces in Manila, Aguinaldo finally mobilizes his troops and take the command of the Katipunan forces in Cavite

A man is wrongly jailed for murder while the real killer roams free. The murderer is an intellectual frustrated with his country’s never-ending cycle of betrayal and apathy. The convict is a simple man who finds life in prison more tolerable, when something mysterious and strange starts happening to him.

An intelligent and witty teacher offers hope and inspiration to people around her, even though she fails to find happiness in her own life.

Dakip is a little boy who lives with his parents – Day and Ric – inside Camp Delgado, a makeshift prison inside a military camp for both rebels and criminals. Day does her best to shelter the child from the harsh realities of their life. She tells stories about an enchantress named Liway, with songs and imagination to help keep her boy from trauma. However, at the tail end of the Martial Law, her own dark past catches up on her and the lives of the detainees become increasingly difficult. She is confronted with the cruel possibility that the best interest of her child means never seeing her again. This is based on a true story.

A 12-year-old gay who comes from a criminal family falls in love with a handsome policeman.

Ahmad belongs to the Bangsamoro people. While many of his kind are bent on fighting, thinking that Mindanao is only for the Muslims, Ahmad prefers to live a simple and peaceful life. He works as a doctor in Manila while his wife, Fatima, and his only son, Ibrahim, stay in Mindanao with his mother, Farida. Ahmad is shocked and devastated when Fatima breaks the confounding news. Ibrahim was killed by a stray bullet when vigilantes indiscriminately fire at their village. Ahmad goes back to where he came from Mindanao. Ibrahim’s death did not cause Ahmad to stop striving to live a peaceful life, much to the consternation of his brother, Musa. His brother takes an exactly opposite stand. Musa believes in waging a war against all the Kaafir (unbelievers) who may impede the Moro’s goal of independence. He even trains his young son, Rashid to a Muslim warrior’s life.

This is a Filipino omnibus film about three different journeys.

Set in two contrasting enivronments that undeline the same premise of imprisonment, Selda tells the story of Rommel (Sid Lucero), a young man who accidentally kills a boy, resulting in his incarceration. Inside the jail, he befriends another inmate, Esteban (Emilio), who becomes his rock and protector. Seven years later, Rommel is living in the province as a farmer together with Sita (Ara Mina) his wife. Esteban tracks down Rommel in hopes of renewing a brewing love affair. Rommel and Sita welcome Esteban into their lives, until their intimacy crosses borderlines and results in the undeniable scourge of self-discovery

Middle-aged Manila storeowner Amelita supplements her tiny income by collecting bets for the popular numbers game of jueteng. While looking out for police crackdowns, the masterfully persuasive Amelita cajoles all comers into placing wagers.

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.

Lola Igna is a foul-mouthed and stubborn woman who is eager to die but her neighbors are hung up on her winning "the oldest living grandmother in the world." Her long-lost great-great-grandson, Tim, is an aspiring vlogger who wants to latch on her now-famous grandma but ends up giving her a new reason to live.

Magkakapatid is a story about a family that drifts apart due to socio-economic differences. Three siblings, three narratives, one tragedy, wherein a brother kills his own brother, a father struggles to accept a daughter’s marriage, and a daughter who could not mourn. In a situation where even traditions can’t pull them together, a tragedy drags them together.

The story of the rebuilding of their lives by the survivors of the disaster caused by Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, particularly focusing on the struggles of a mother who lost their children.

In a fishing village where pawning children is the norm, Sonia, a 14-year-old girl full of dreams, is thrown into the pawnship slavery to pay off the debt of her poor parents. After months of servitude under a tyrannical employer, Sonia is forcedly pawned back into labor to pay for the expenses of her father’s funeral. When will this cycle of debt bondage end? Is a bright future even possible for Sonia?