BuyBust (stylized as BUYBUST) is a 2018 Philippine action thriller film co-written and directed by Erik Matti. It stars an ensemble cast top-billed by Anne Curtis and Brandon Vera. The plot centers on a team summoned by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to conduct a drug bust in a Manila slum. Realizing the mission is poorly executed, the team find themselves trapped by settlers and attempts to escape by fighting their way out. The film has been viewed as a social commentary on the controversial Philippine Drug War initiated by the Duterte government.
Production on Matti's "first full-on action film" began in 2016, and Curtis and Vera were cast as leads the following year. On a budget of ₱86 million, principal photography began in March 2017. The film premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) on June 29, 2018, had a wide Philippine release on August 1 and a limited North American release on August 10. Critical reception to the film was generally favorable, attaining praise for its action scenes, theme, technical aspects and Curtis' against-type performance, but was often criticized as a rip-off of the 2011 Indonesian film The Raid. It grossed worldwide.
Plot
Due to the Philippine Drug War, most of the country's barangays have been drug free. Drug dealer Teban (Alex Calleja) is interrogated by Detective Dela Cruz (Lao Rodriguez) and Detective Alvarez (Nonie Buencamino), trying to find out the location of big-time drug lord Biggie Chen (Arjo Atayde). Upon learning that Chen is hiding at the Barangay Gracia ni Maria in Tondo, Manila, the authorities launch a "buy-bust" operation to capture Chen.
Rookie police officer Nina Manigan (Anne Curtis) joins a new anti-narcotic elite squad of the PDEA after surviving the slaughter of her entire former squad in a drug raid compromised by corrupt cops. Her new squad is chosen to conduct the mission against Chen; the entrapment is to take place in Plaza Rajah Sulayman. Teban is used as a bait to lure Chen, but the latter did not appear.
The squad then proceeds to the slums of Gracia and split up into the Alpha and Bravo teams. Inside, Teban meets with Chongki (Levi Ignacio) to take him over to Chen. However, the operation was revealed as bait to massacre the PDEA officers. The Bravo team is slaughtered, leaving Dela Cruz as the only survivor. The Alpha team, led by Lacson, fall back but find themselves trapped by slum settlers and drug mafias in which they must fight their way out. Manigan then kills Dela Cruz upon finding out that he is a part of the illegal trade.
Fed up with the relentless operations conducted by authorities, the dwellers of Gracia erupted into a violent riot against the PDEA officers and the drug lords. In the ensuing chaos, Rico, Bernie, Teban, Chongki, Solomon, Manok and hundreds of other civilians are killed amid the riots and the gunfights. In the aftermath, Chen is captured, and Manigan, who ends up as being the sole survivor of her squad, finds out that Detective Alvarez was the one behind the illegal drug trade from Chen. While in police custody, Manigan notices Alvarez talking with someone over the phone regarding "loose ends". After the phone conversation, Alvarez kills Chen; Manigan wrestles for Alvarez' gun then kills him and his men, she shoots her leg on purpose then places the gun on Chen's lifeless body and takes the phone that Alvarez was using for possible evidence. When other PDEA agents ask Manigan what happened, she stated that the Chen "fought back". The film ends with the news stating that "only 13 people" died during the encounter while the camera glides upon hundreds of dead bodies.
Cast
Production
Production on BuyBust began as early as mid-2016 which, according to director Erik Matti, included: "finding a good mix of actors, training, pre-sales, test shoots, storyboards, training, pre-vis, look tests, set construction, training finding the right balance between budget ambition and resources". Matti also wrote the screenplay, which underwent a total of 16 revisions. A co-production of Viva Films and his production company Reality Entertainment, he described the project his "first full-on action film" in recent years.
Anne Curtis and MMA fighter Brandon Vera joined the cast in late June 2016. A week before filming, Curtis performed rigorous training at the Scout Ranger Training School, where she undertook knife fighting in close quarters and basic weapon handling. Curtis was also trained in Pekiti-Tirsia Kali, and running while encumbered with of weight. She elected performing most of her stunts by herself. Lawyer Chel Diokno did the voiceover in some of its most crucial scenes.