There’s a current spate of alleged abductions south of the metro that needs to be looked into. In a way, this headline makes Mikhail Red’s dark coming-of-age comedy/heist Dead Kids – the first Filipino-produced Netflix Original film – quite timely and no less urgent.
(WITHOUT SPOILING TOO MUCH)
Supposedly inspired by real reports of abductions in Metro Manila schools, Dead Kids revolves around a group of socially misfit private high school students (kids with a dead life AKA the title) who plot to exact revenge on the school’s resident rich kid bully Chuck (Markus Paterson) by kidnapping him for ransom.
The group, masterminded by the brooding Blanco (Vance Larena) with Paolo (Khalil Ramos) and Uy (Jan Silverio), enlist the scholarly good boy Mark (Kelvin Miranda) who lives in a rented warehouse. Amid all this plotting, Mark is keen on getting a scholarship for college – something that he and the girl he is interested in, Janina (Sue Ramirez), are constantly anxious about. Alas, the group’s carefully-thought of plan does not pan out well.
The film is actually three-in-one: a heist, a coming of age drama, and a dark comedy peppered with political commentary.
As a heist, the film establishes just enough to build towards the crime and skips beats, making less sense after the kidnapping onwards. Tropes abound to the end – after all, it is a genre film. Or is it?
The film is (also) a dark comedy. Frequented by laughter-worthy snides and asides (some may even have been ad-libs) coming from the general direction of Khalil Ramos, these punch lines temper what otherwise would be hot topics reserved for more serious fare ranging from social media validation to EJK (“Squatter lang ang tinotokhang”) to inequality to Pinoy racism to gay discrimination. The socially dead kids in the title may very well represent victims of the country’s bloody war on drugs. The heist and the commentary don’t always mesh well together.
But what Dead Kids nails precisely is to show a map of youth culture with myriad individual realities, voiced with fatality by the physical, emotional and mental struggles of Mark, and filtered through the smokey lens of cinematographer Mycko David. Like many dark comedies, it’s actually a sad tale.
But the best part is that this youthful voice is portrayed by a fantastic cast (but if you must insist, Larena and Miranda in particular.) FANTASTIC CAST. All of the plot’s shortcomings can be dismissed by the sheer energy that the cast brings to life onscreen. Whatever it is that’s happening to our youth, it’s a reassurance at least that talent is very much alive in them.
Dead Kids is streaming now on Netflix.
Director Mikhail Red
Story by the Red Brothers
Rated R16
acid reflects 
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