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Amigo: film review.

Set during the U.S. incursion in the Philippines in 1900, the John Sayles directed movie is impressive, but the indie filmmaker has little to add to the debate beyond the eternal truth that the innocent always suffer most.

By Ray Bennett , The Associated Press October 14, 2010 10:21pm

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Amigo Poster Art - P 2011

TORONTO — John Sayles ‘ Amigo is set during the U.S. incursion in the Philippines in 1900, but the parallels with Afghanistan and Iraq today are clear. It’s an impressive movie, but the indie filmmaker has little to add to the debate beyond the eternal truth that the innocent always suffer most.

Good looking, atmospheric and steeped in the culture of the rural Philippines of the time, Amigo follows what happens when a U.S. platoon occupies the village of San Isidro deep in the rice paddies far from Manila.

The Bottom Line Good looking, atmospheric and steeped in the culture of the rural Philippines of the time, Amigo follows what happens when a U.S. platoon occupies the village of San Isidro deep in the rice paddies far from Manila.

It’s a familiar tale, but the setting is different, and Sayles tells it with his usual cinematic vigor and attention to small detail. It will appeal to audiences interested in well-told history, and the film should be of great interest to educators as a way of imparting the everlasting tragedy of such conflicts. With much of the dialogue in Spanish, it also should travel well.

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With Spain and the U.S. at war, the Philippines declared itself an independent republic in 1898. American troops moved in and the conflict in the Philippines lasted longer than the Spanish-American War.

When Lt. Compton ( Garret Dillahunt ) marches into the village of San Isidro, most of the young men already have joined the rebels. Village headman Rafael ( Joel Torre ) has incarcerated the remaining Spaniards including Padre Hildago ( Yul Vazquez ) and declares himself a friend, an amigo, to the invaders.

Rafael’s brother Simon ( Ronnie Lazaro ), however, is leader of the local rebels, and his son has run off to join them. Strict but compassionate, Compton strives to win the hearts and minds of the villagers even as the conflict escalates elsewhere.

When the rebels across the country prove intransigent, U.S. leaders dictate a change from carrot to stick, and Compton’s senior office, Col. Hardacre ( Chris Cooper ), orders the lieutenant to make war.

Cattle are slain, fields ruined and curfews imposed; anyone who helps the rebels will be shot. Meanwhile, the rebels issue their own demands that mean anyone who aids the enemy also will be executed. Just like the locals in Afghanistan and many other places, the villagers are caught between a rock and a hard place.

Sayles depicts the young U.S. soldiers as a rough and tender mix, with most having learned to demonize the enemy even as the Filipinos they meet turn out to be friendly and cooperative. Tension mounts as the rebels gear up their attacks, violence increases, and the village leader is caught between conflicting obligations.

Dillahunt ( Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ) makes a strong impression as an officer who is at heart a civilian house-builder. He strives for harmony and peacekeeping while following strict orders. Vazquez makes his sanctimonious priest sardonic and merciless, and Torre has an everyman appeal as a leader trying to do the right thing.

Production design by Rodell Cruz gets the most of the sumptuous Philippines locations that make a luxuriant impression in Lee Briones-Meily ‘s muscular cinematography.

Venue: Toronto International Film Festival Production: Pinoy Pictures Cast: Chris Cooper, Garret Dillahunt, Joel Torre, Yul Vazquez Director-screenwriter-editor: John Sayles Producer: Maggie Renzi Director of photography: Lee Briones-Meily Production designer: Rodell Cruz Costume designer: Gino Gonzales Sales: Rezo No rating, 128 minutes

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‘Amigo’ Review: Held Hostage at Home for the Holidays

Óscar Martin’s first feature is a small but striking psychological-thriller showcase for two actors who’ve previously collaborated as comedians.

By Dennis Harvey

Dennis Harvey

Film Critic

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The Unhappy Holiday Movie has become almost a genre unto itself, this year’s new additions running a now-familiar gamut from the sour seasonal rebound rom-com to wreathed-in-gore Yuletide horrors (including this weekend’s “Violent Night” and “Christmas Bloody Christmas”). No matter how dyspeptic in spirit, all tend to hang onto a certain cuteness, reassuring viewers they don’t really mean to rain on anyone’s annual good cheer.

Popular on Variety

Meanwhile, David attempts to strike a posture of nursemaid benevolence, overriding Javi’s few available paths of resistance (such as to eating), ignoring the fewer-still words of bitter recrimination he’s able to spit out. Visits by a garrulous physiotherapist (Patricia Estremera) break the general gloom. But as time passes, snowstorms render surrounding roads impassable, making the duo’s isolation complete. They also cut David off from his supply of a pharmaceutical drug, which is very upsetting to him. Soon it will be upsetting to Javi, too … because off his meds, David becomes increasingly prone to paranoia, hallucinations and alarming mood swings. 

Irrationally certain that Javi is covertly wandering around the house (when he’s barely got the strength to squeeze a rubber ducky in the tub), David installs a camera to spy on his imagined movements. What he thinks he sees in his TV monitor echoes what bed-bound Javi actually watches in his room: a steady diet of vintage Spanish horror movies and TV shows. (There are also cloying Christmas commercials to underline the perversity of our protagonists’ forced, uncongenial “togetherness.”)

The script is arguably more withholding than necessary, as we never learn the precise circumstances of that fateful car accident. Nor is the central relationship ever fully clarified — childhood photos glimpsed suggest the two men might be brothers, or at least lifelong friends, but no backstory is forthcoming. Such details might’ve filled out a story that in the end feels just a tad undernourished for feature treatment. 

Nonetheless, “Amigo” gets a lot of mileage out of its simple conceit. While a deliberately slow burn, it’s always involving, building tension towards two audaciously sustained shots involving extreme life-or-death straits. Elsewhere, cinematographer Alberto Morago Munoz’s widescreen compositions render the nondescript rural scenery very handsome, also imbuing the interiors with a great deal of atmosphere. There’s a terrifically impressive, expressive original score by Manu Conde. 

Botet’s emaciated physicality (he was born with the genetic disorder Marfan syndrome) has gotten him cast in numerous “creature” roles, including prominent ones in the “[REC],” “Insidious,” “Conjuring” and “It” franchises. Here he puts that to much more relatable use, creating a figure of palpable vulnerability while retaining an uncanny edge. Pareja, his partner in numerous sketch comedy endeavors (notably online videos and short films), is equally fine as a remorseful friend turned victimizer whose mental issues are no less persuasive for being left ambiguously undefined.

Reviewed online, Nov. 30, 2022. Running time: 83 MIN. 

• Production: (Spain) A Dekanalog release of a Raven Banner Entertainment, Dekanalog presentation of an El Ojo Mecanico production in coproduction with Pohewi Films. Producer: Elena Munoz. Co-producer, Clara Nieto.
• Crew: Director: Óscar Martin. Screenplay: Javier Botet, David Pareja, Óscar Martin. Camera: Alberto Morago Munoz. Editor: Emilio Gonzalez. Music: Manu Conde. 
• With: Javier Botet, David Pareja, Patricia Estremera, Esther Gimeno, Luichi Macias.

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By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

John Sayles, a filmmaker by trade, a provocateur by nature, means to stir things up with Amigo . That he does, and more power to him. Sayles stands pretty much alone in a play-it-safe movie summer of 3D gimmicks and numbing comedies. Amigo looks at American imperialism through the United States occupation of the Philippines at the turn of the 20th century. Don’t feel too out of it. History books generally gloss over the guerilla war that ignited (and lasted until 1913) when the U.S. annexed the colonial Philippines during the Spanish-American War. Sayles extracted the Philippine story from his larger-scaled novel, A Moment in the Sun . And because he’s a true indie in terms of tight budget and unlimited spirit, the writer-director focuses – not on jumbo battles and body count – but on life in a village (San Isidro) torn apart by the conflict.

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Filipino actor Joel Torre excels as Rafael, a village honcho who tries to play amigo with the occupiers led by sympathetic Lt. Compton (the excellent Garret Dillahunt) and his racist commander, Col. Hardacre (the reliably superb Chris Cooper). This alienates Rafael’s brother, Simon (Ronnie Lazaro), leader of the rebels, and sets up a conflict that draws potent parallels to Iraq and Afghanistan. With so much history to cram into 128 minutes (plus dialogue in English, Spanish, and Tagalog), Sayles occasionally slips into dogma and reductivism. But why fault a filmmaker for ambition, a word that strikes fear and loathing in Hollywood. After 17 movies starting with his acclaimed 1980 debut, Return of the Secaucus Seven , Sayles still sees the world as a complicated whole with humanity unrestricted by borders. Amigo is combustible filmmaking, something that stays with you long after the final credits. In an entertainment universe of escapism and short attention spans, Amigo is a rousing antidote and a cause for celebration.

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Film Review: “Amigo”

By peter wong on august 16, 2011.

John Sayles’ new historical drama Amigo brings to modern audiences a tale set during the long-forgotten (or deliberately ignored) Philippine-American War. Yet rather than create a hermetic period entertainment, the veteran writer/director effectively presents a parable whose lessons America has been ignoring during its Middle East occupations.

In 1901, Rafael Dacanay (Joel Torre) carries on his family tradition as mayor of the small rural Philippine baryo of San Isidro. However, the village’s rhythms get altered by the American army’s arrival. As part of a general strategy to end General Aguinaldo’s Philippine guerilla opposition to America’s military takeover of the country, Colonel Hardacre (Chris Cooper) installs in San Isidro a garrison led by Lieutenant Compton (Garret Dillahunt) and tasks him with winning the villagers’ cooperation. Rafael’s efforts to protect the villagers from the Americans are complicated by the reality that his brother Simon (Ronnie Lazaro) leads the local guerilla band. It also doesn’t help that Father Hidalgo (Yul Vazquez), the sole liaison between the Americans and the Pilipinos, uses his position to control the San Isidrans.

Amigo may mean friend. Yet a continual theme of the film is how power imbalances undermine attempts to establish friendly connections with other people. Colonel Hardacre, for example, may anachronistically order the Lieutenant to win the Pilipinos’ hearts and minds. Yet deliberately destroying the crops and animals the villagers need to survive only inspire in Rafael a desire to keep accounts of the Americans’ destructiveness.

The other barrier to any prospects of friendship is how the Americans and the Pilipinos remain unknowable strangers to each other. The San Isidrans see the American troops as capricious enigmas. The American soldiers in turn see the goo-goos as undisciplined subhuman children. Even Lieutenant Compton never goes beyond sympathy.

Similarities between the Americans and the Pilipinos do exist. That viewer realization, though, results from Sayles’ cinematic juxtapositions. The burial sequences for people killed on each side during an attack show both sides respect the violent loss of life. However, the guerillas’; God is the one who doesn’t come out of the mouths of friars.

Sayles; film would not have been greenlit by Hollywood. It rejects the mainstream image of white Americans being born with an all access sociopolitical pass to go anywhere and have their presence bless the world. Amigo ‘s American soldiers are less innocents abroad and more unwelcome squatters. Rafael’s reaction to the sight of an American flag hanging outside what used to be his home captures that feeling well.

Also blessedly absent in Amigo are enlightened white men who selflessly save the Pilipinos. Father Hidalgo’s religious saving actually controls the villagers. The American soldiers casually consume, but never understand, Pilipino culture. Lieutenant Compton does order his men to help Rafael and the others build a house. But he never rebels against any of Colonel Hardacre’s orders.

The Pilipinos of Amigo are definitely not the undifferentiated mass of mimicking children perceived by Father Hidalgo. They display differing reactions to the American occupation ranging from opportunistic exploitation for settling old resentments to grudging acceptance to believing the foreigners are not human.

But what will send the right-wing media whackjobs into hyperbolic orbit is Amigo ‘s rejection of American overseas military presence as inherently benevolent. The stage-setting opening narration captures in a deadpan manner the hypocrisy of the American presence in the Philippines. The Americans are shown as winners through various means of destroying the Pilipinos’ wills and spirits.

The film effectively criticizes America’s history of foreign occupations without resorting to artistic bludgeoning. Sayles’ work avoids anti-imperialist sloganeering or drawing obvious parallels to America’s current presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even what seems to be a reference to waterboarding is unfortunately an accurate recreation of what was known during the Philippine-American War as the euphemistic water cure.

Instead, the criticism arises out of the characters’ actions. The breakthrough in the occupiers’ earning some measure of acceptance from the San Isidrans comes in Lieutenant Compton’s aforementioned ordering his men to help the Pilipinos build a house instead of destroying it. Yet any act of Americans’ kindness displayed towards the Pilipinos ultimately doesn’t alter the conqueror/soon-to-be-conquered dynamic.

Sayles does not cheapen Amigo by resorting to melodramatic plot developments. Father Hidalgo and Colonel Hardacre are obvious villains, but their malevolence is presented as apparently reasonable concerns about spiritually or physically saving the villagers from the guerillas’ influence. Despite the film trailer, there are not a lot of shootouts in Amigo . Even the suspense of the climactic life-threatening crisis never devolves into a clichéd race against time.

Central to Amigo ‘s effectiveness is Joel Torres’ performance as Rafael. The beloved Philippine actor makes his beleaguered mayor a man struggling to retain his dignity and control in the face of humiliations and life-threatening pressure from two diametrically opposed sides.

The other actors carry their own parts of Amigo. Cooper doesn’t turn his military commander into a sadistic monster despite a casual act of public sacrilege. Instead, one thinks of him as a military pragmatist who takes an “anything goes” approach to accomplish his goals. Vazquez makes the racist patronization of his supposedly holy friar seem like benevolent amusement. But Sayles’ script never quite establishes the religious leader’s ultimate goals. Dillahunt’s garrison lieutenant avoids becoming an early 20th century liberal. While he eventually shows respect towards the Pilipinos, the military man scoffs at the concept of allowing women to vote.

By the film’s punch-in-the-gut final line, the viewer realizes that Amigo is not interested in putting a cinematic smiley face on American imperialism. Sayles’ film demonstrates that America’s crushing of General Aguinaldo/s rebellion was more than a 180-degree switch from the stated anti-imperialist aims that launched the Spanish-American War. As the Iraq invasion and the Afghanistan occupation have depressingly shown, America’s government regularly and unashamedly dresses naked grabs for other countries’ land and resources in the garb of noble politics.

(Amigo opens August 19, 2011 at the UA Stonestown Twin Cinema (575 Buckingham Way, SF). For further information about the film, go to www.amigofilm.com .)

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Movie Review: Amigo (2010)

• Mark Zhuravsky
• Movie Reviews
• No responses
• --> August 29, 2011

John Sayles’ newest film, Amigo, inspired in part by the director’s work on a novel, “A Moment in the Sun,” focuses on a vital American incursion overseas that has been all but paved over in our history books — the Philippine-American War, occurring at the cusp of a new century, barely fifty years after the Civil War. Facing Filipino resistance after the latter had cast off the Spanish yoke, Americans dug in and fought hard in a foreign climate against an invader who utilized guerilla tactics. Does this sound familiar? Certainly Sayles ( Passion Fish , Lone Star , Honeydripper ) was aware of the parallels that can be drawn, and has crafted a film that eludes simple allegory.

Instead, Amigo observes both the inhabitants and the uncomfortable Americans who kick up dust in the village where the film will be largely set. The men garrison themselves in the village, under the eye of Lt. Compton (Garret Dillahunt), who fancies himself a worldly man and attempts to find common language with Rafael (Filipino superstar Joel Torre), the cabeza of the village, its primary governing force. Rafael happens to have the misfortune of having a brother who’s committed himself to the revolutionary cause. Now, the head of the village must tread softly, taking blows from the impatient and trigger-happy Americans while the revolutionary force nervously discerns whether Rafael is only a prisoner of war or something more dangerous to their cause.

Sayles (who also wrote the script) presents a rich tapestry where cultural norms collide as often as language barriers do. The Filipinos speak Tagalog, the Americans English, the Spanish priest who is freed upon American arrival Spanish and the Chinese laborers brought in for manual labor Chinese. Subtitles abound, and we are put in the unique position of knowing more about the goings on than the characters onscreen — not a novel technique, but one that works well in a film that missteps briefly when it devolves into a third act parable built on bad luck and chance.

In the meantime though, we are allowed to survey the village and meet its residents, people drawn together by their culture and a farming life that is interrupted by the American arrival. The Americans don’t get the short stick in terms of character development — while several are good ole Southern boys, they have an opportunity to show that their charisma as an act, an effort to avert panic and stay calm while guerillas take potshots at the troops. When gruff Col. Hardacre (Sayles’ favorite Chris Cooper) rides into town to deliver a few words about “winning hearts and minds,” it doesn’t seem to be much comfort to the men under his command — Dillahunt’s Compton takes an interest in facilitating a cultural exchange of sorts but when Hardacre cracks down as revolutionary assaults intensify, Compton’s humanity slips away and he carries out orders without question.

In midst of all this is Rafael, an agreeable, intelligent man with a loving wife and a son who strives to be more like his uncle. Rafael is not a saintly figure and isn’t above poking fun at the Americans for not knowing a word of Tagalog — but he’s also a thinker and a diplomat, though under American rule, he can do no more than await the next punishment while arguing with Padre Hidalgo (Yul Vasquez) about how the Spanish priest, recently deposed and now newly free, will translate Rafael’s pleas to the Americans. The priest regards the locals as savages and responds to their concerns, spiritual and otherwise, with indifference — perhaps the most complex character in the film, Hidalgo is embodied by Vasquez with insurmountable pride and little patience, certainly a poor combination in a priest.

The primary fault with Amigo — aside from an occasionally tiresome pace that almost mimics what life must have been like in the little village, moving slowly in wet, occasionally hot weather — is the third act, where Sayles ratchets up the tension and finally pushes the various personalities to make decisions that will permanently effect both soldiers and residents under their command. The drama milked from the moment is slight and that is unfortunate, since Amigo could have used some heft in going out. Instead, we are left with a study in contrasts and an appreciation for minute details of everyday life that define people and set boundaries. For that alone, Amigo deserves a recommendation.

The best of the five boroughs is now represented. Brooklyn in the house! I'm a hardworking film writer, blogger, and former co-host of "It's No Timecop" podcast ! Find me on Twitter @markzhur .

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Common sense media reviewers.

Downbeat war drama is intelligent but violent.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Over the course of the story, some of the American

Lt. Compton is shown to be a decent American soldi

The movie isn't overly violent or gory, but th

One character has an STD from sleeping with prosti

Language is typical for a war-themed movie, with s

The American soldiers consume a local, homemade al

Parents need to know that this war-themed drama set in the Philippines, circa 1900, has a fair amount of war violence, with shootings, blood, death, and threats; children are involved in some of this. Strong language includes several uses of "f--k," "s--t," and the "N" word (about half of…

Positive Messages

Over the course of the story, some of the American soldiers learn to empathize with their Filipino hosts, seeing them as human beings rather than as enemies or animals. The Filipino hero -- who is already a thoughtful, forgiving man -- shows some kindness in return. Overall, the movie also depicts the inhuman destruction of war.

Positive Role Models

Lt. Compton is shown to be a decent American soldier, showing empathy toward the Filipino villagers, and another young solider falls in love with one of the local girls. Unfortunately, most of the soldiers don't feel the same way toward the Filipino people, and all of them are subject to their commander's orders, which generally don't include any kind of allowance for the locals.

Violence & Scariness

The movie isn't overly violent or gory, but there's plenty of war violence, and many of the characters' lives are altered because of the war. Weapons are fired, many characters (both major and minor) are shot, and there's some blood. Children are involved in shootings. There's also a hanging and the suggestion of a cockfight, though brutal details aren't shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

One character has an STD from sleeping with prostitutes. Implied sex between a married couple. An American soldier has a sweet romance with a local girl (no kissing or nudity). Slight innuendo.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language is typical for a war-themed movie, with several uses of "f--k" and "s--t," plus "God" (as an exclamation), "goddamn," "whore," "ass," "son of a bitch," "piss," and the "N" word.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

The American soldiers consume a local, homemade alcoholic drink; one becomes hooked on it, and he's often shown as slurring, sloppy drunk. He falls asleep on guard duty as a result of his drinking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this war-themed drama set in the Philippines, circa 1900, has a fair amount of war violence, with shootings, blood, death, and threats; children are involved in some of this. Strong language includes several uses of "f--k," "s--t," and the "N" word (about half of the movie is in English, the other half subtitled). There's also some sex talk, innuendo, and flirting, as well as heavy drinking. Written and directed by legendary indie filmmaker John Sayles , the movie tries to capture the point of view of American soldiers occupying a small baryo , as well as the locals who live there. The result is both uncommonly intelligent and uncommonly downbeat, and it's likely that only the most adventurous of older teens will be interested. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

In a small baryo in the Philippines, circa 1900 (during the Philippine-American War), Rafael ( Joel Torre ) is a fair and beloved "head man" whose brother is the leader of a band of guerilla soldiers. Before long, the U.S. military arrives and occupies the village, and Rafael finds himself caught between trying to cooperate with Lt. Compton ( Garret Dillahunt ) and secretly helping his brother. A Spanish priest (Yul Vazquez) is also on hand to make things more complicated, while the bored Americans begin to dabble in drinking and flirting with local girls. Soon Rafael and the lieutenant begin to understand each other, but will their newfound empathy protect them from the horrors of war?

Is It Any Good?

Legendary indie filmmaker John Sayles ( Eight Men Out , The Secret of Roan Inish ) delivers an uncommonly intelligent war-themed movie in AMIGO, and on a much smaller scale than usual. He burrows into individual characters, rather than battles; there are no clear "good guys" or "bad guys." Eventually the characters begin to discover one another's humanity, and war becomes an unfortunate side effect rather than the main point.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the movie's violence . How does its compare to what you might see in a blockbuster action movie? Which has more impact? Why?

Are there "good guys" and "bad guys" in this war? What does the movie have to say about war in general?

Why do you think the filmmaker chose such a downbeat ending? What does it mean?

Movie Details

• In theaters : August 19, 2011
• On DVD or streaming : June 22, 2012
• Cast : Chris Cooper , Garret Dillahunt , Joel Torre
• Director : John Sayles
• Studio : Variance Films
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 128 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : some violence and language
• Last updated : February 25, 2022

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Film Review | AMIGO

Indie filmmaker John Sayles rides again.

By ED RAMPELL Posted by Bulatlat.com

Writer/director John Sayles went to Hollywood Saturday night, but that’s not to say the über-indie filmmaker — creator of independent features such as 1979’s Return of the Secaucus Seven, 1984’s The Brother From Another Planet and 1996’s Lone Star — has “gone Hollywood.” Sayles held court at the historic Roosevelt Hotel then crossed the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame (where, not surprisingly, there’s no star for the maverick moviemaker) to present the U.S. premiere of his new film Amigo at what may be La-La-Land’s grandest movie palace, the ornate, capacious Grauman’s Chinese Theater, famous for its courtyard of celebrity footprints immortalized in cement (minus, of course, Sayles’ stony imprint).

Sayles’ near epic was entirely shot on location in the Philippines with a largely Filipino crew and a mixed cast of Filipino and American actors. Amigo tells the story of a village caught in the crossfire between insurrectos – Filipino nationalists – and U.S. soldiers occupying those Western Pacific islands, as an outgrowth of 1898’s Spanish-American War. Instead of liberating the Philippines from colonialism, the latter day Yanqui conquistadors replaced Spain as the colonial ruler. Having already endured a third of a millennium of foreign occupation and rule, General Aguinaldo and his fellow revolutionaries did not take kindly to Washington’s meddling in their internal affairs, and Filipino guerrillas took up arms to resist the U.S. invaders.

The Philippine-American War was arguably the U.S. empire’s longest war, lasting from 1899 all the way to 1913. (One could actually argue that although the Philippines attained formal independence in 1946, the U.S. occupation lasted until 1991, when the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo with post-Ferdinand Marcos nationalism combined to drive the Yanquis out of their Subic Bay Naval Station and Clark Air bases.) Leave it to the leftwing Sayles (whose company is called “Anarchists’ Convention Films”) to shine a light on this little known armed conflict, something that the helmer says he loves to do. And by turning to this violent episode of the past Sayles also scores some salient points about Washington’s two ongoing, seemingly endless occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, which threaten to replace the Philippine-American imperial imbroglio as the U.S.’s longest lasting wars. As Chris Cooper’s hard-bitten colonel says, “There’s a lot of history you don’t know about.”

Cooper, a veteran Sayles-man, leads the American troupe as Col. Hardacre, a hard ass Civil War vet and officer in charge of the U.S. troops, who clashes with Garrett Dillahunt’s Lt. Compton, as he attempts to win the hearts and minds of the villagers he oversees. In an effort at what would be called “hamlet pacification” during another Yankee war of aggression – Vietnam — Compton introduces display democracy to the village he occupies. But when Hardacre returns there after a skirmish he water boards the hamlet’s re-elected headman, Rafael Dacanay (Joel Torre, a popular Pilipino performer who seems to have been named after Jose Rizal, and appeared in a 1998 biopic about that national hero). Another one of the top Filipino actors Sayles cast is Bembol Roco, who plays the insurrecto Policarpio, and whom moviegoers may remember as Kumar, Mel Gibson’s assistant in another classic about Asian upheavals (the bloody coup that toppled Pres. Sukarno), Australian director Peter Weir’s 1982 The Year of Living Dangerously, which was set in Indonesia but actually shot on location in the Philippines with a largely Filipino cast and extras.

Rafael walks a taut tightrope as the village chief who must placate foreign invaders garrisoned in his village of Nipa huts and somehow co-exist with the guerrillas holed up in the jungle, and with whom he somewhat sympathizes. Rafael also contends with divided family loyalties. It’s a tough balancing act, as both the indigenous and the invading forces reportedly committed atrocities during the war (although American war crimes inspired Mark Twain, vice president of the Anti-Imperialist League, to pen a damning poem with a pen dipped in acid). The film’s references to water torture, solitary confinement and lynching are similarly harrowing.

Sayles often directs low key, laconically paced, character driven indies, such as the 1983 coming out drama Lianna, made long before porn’s Sappho chic trend or Ellen DeGeneres came out on her sitcom or MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow replaced Ellen as America’s favorite lesbian. Lone Star, which paired Cooper and Elizabeth Pena, is a racially charged murder mystery, but also a sensitive drama about brother-sister incest. Amigo, however, is most similar to Sayles’ action-packed 1987 Matewan, which was inspired by an actual episode of explosive class war pitting militant miners against owners and their henchmen. Amigo has the most gunplay and revolutionary politics of any Sayles film since Matewan, which also co-starred Cooper.

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Amigo Review: A History Lesson Worth Watching

If there’s one thing I took away from Amigo , it would be that I am totally disconnected from my Filipino heritage and it took a white, super-literary independent film director to make me realize that.

In Amigo , director/writer John Sayles gives us a fictional account of the often overlooked Philippine-American war which “officially” lasted between 1899 and 1902. The epicenter of the movie takes place in the rural village located in Northern Luzon during 1900. In the midst of the aforementioned war, a group of U.S. troops are told to station themselves (or, as they say, “garrison”) in the village by the tough-as-nails Colonel Hardacre (Chirs Cooper). Rafael (Joel Torre), the mayor of the village is then put under pressure to help hunt down some of the Filipino guerrillas lurking in the surrounding jungle. Rafael is further conflicted considering his brother Simon (Ronnie Lazaro) is the leader of the guerrillas in the jungle. Ultimately, Rafael is conflicted and any wrong decision (or even right one) could result in dire consequences.

From my understanding (and Wikipedia research) the war, in general, was between the United States and Filipino revolutionaries to gain independence. That said, this small slice of the Philippine-American War is very difficult to digest because there seems to be too much to stuff into 128 minutes to get a full grasp of this “forgotten war” — which is why the hefty press pack for the movie was helpful supplemental reading. This could be the movie’s downfall and at the same time, it’s strength.

Amigo actually feels like a movie you would watch in history class. There’s an educational mist that is sprayed on the film and there’s enough of a “Hollywood” component to give it a soul. Sayles doesn’t follow the “white man comes and ravages and/or saves village” formula nor does he walk down the road of “savage natives are forced to acclimate to white culture.” He is very even-handed when handling the content. His attention, patience, and urgency for clarity shows and is expected to be reciprocated by the audience — and he doesn’t try to shove it down your throat. He gives you small spoonfuls which allows you to savor this tale.

Diehard Filipino history buffs will definitely be on high alert when it comes to watching this film. There will be a high amount of skepticism, but please remember — this is a fictional account. Plus, his casting is quite thoughtful. In addition to Cooper ( American Beauty , Adaptation ), indie-but-recognizable actors such as DJ Qualls ( Lost , Hustle and Flow ), Garret Dillahunt ( The Last House on the Left, Raising Hope ), and Lucas Neff (also from Raising Hope ) fill in the shoes of U.S. soldiers. On the Filipino side of things, there are actual Filipino actors like Torre, Rio Locsin, and Bembol Roco.

Sayles delicately balances a “man vs. self vs. man” narrative with historical content to produce an educational film for those who are willing to listen and it will make you hungry for more Philippine-American War knowledge.

Amigo opens in select theaters on August 19 and expands on August 26.

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Movie review: ‘Amigo’

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In his 17th feature, indie stalwart John Sayles sheds welcome light on a long-suppressed episode in American foreign policy. Uneven but ultimately affecting, “Amigo” looks at the Philippine-American War, an often brutal adventure in imperialism at the turn of the last century, through the story of an occupied village.

Shot entirely in the Philippines, the film captures the tropical humidity as U.S. troops overtake a remote community and place its leader (Philippine star Joel Torre) in an ever-tightening vise of political pressure. Rafael must appease the Americans even as he’s helping the revolutionary guerrillas.

Torre is excellent as a man very much in the middle and increasingly aware of the impossibility of his situation.

The American soldiers, led by the aptly named Col. Hardacre (Chris Cooper) and a more compassionate lieutenant (Garret Dillahunt), are mere boys, most touchingly so in the case of Gil (Dane DeHaan of “In Treatment”), who falls for a local girl although he speaks not a word of Tagalog, and despite everything he’s been taught about the Asian “monkeys.”

Representing the fading colonial presence of Spain and the church is a friar (Yul Vázquez) who isn’t so much duplicitous as out-and-out disdainful. The history lesson is often framed in stagy exchanges of dialogue, diluting the strong sense of place.

Some striking linguistic anachronisms (“loop us in”) might be intentional, but they’re unnecessary; the contemporary resonance of this portrait of racism and war, however obvious, is fully felt.

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Amigo (2011) Stream and Watch Online

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Fancy watching ' Amigo ' on your TV, phone, or tablet? Searching for a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or view the John Sayles-directed movie via subscription can be a huge pain, so we here at Moviefone want to do the heavy lifting. We've listed a number of streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription alternatives - along with the availability of 'Amigo' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into the various whats and wheres of how you can watch 'Amigo' right now, here are some specifics about the Anarchist's Convention Films, Pictures drama flick. Released August 19th, 2011, 'Amigo' stars Chris Cooper , Dane DeHaan , Garret Dillahunt , Ronnie Lazaro The movie has a runtime of about 2 hr 8 min, and received a user score of 51 (out of 100) on TMDb, which collated reviews from 14 well-known users. What, so now you want to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "Rafael is 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." 'Amigo' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Tubi TV .

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• Cannes Film Festival 2024: All Of Deadline’s Movie Reviews

‘Kinds Of Kindness’ Review: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Latest Is Puzzling, Brilliant, Funny … And Not Easy To Like – Cannes Film Festival

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Who is RMF? We never do find out. Yorgos Lanthimos ’ trio of stories in Kinds of Kindness are titled The Death of RMF ,  RMF is Flying and RMF Eats a Sandwich . 

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Thus begins a long, wild trail through three otherwise ostensibly unrelated stories, all featuring the same actors playing different roles in each story. All three stories do, however, reflect Lanthimos’ recurrent motifs: control, cruelty and erotomania. 

He and his co-writer, Efthimis Filippou, have conjured many closed dystopias over the years, but this one seems all the darker for containing three stories rather than one. It isn’t about an isolated quirk, like the imprisoned family in Dogtooth . It isn’t centered on a single oddball institution, like the one that turns surplus unmarried humans into animals in The Lobster . 

RELATED: Cannes Film Festival Photos

Kinds of Kindness is about a ubiquitous interdependence between ruthless power and willing submission that crops up everywhere, which implies that we are all in its thrall. That makes it their gloomiest film yet. Of course, it is also very funny.

The first story follows Robert, a corporate dweeb played by Jesse Plemons . If it wasn’t already obvious after his scene-stealing rampage in Civil War , Plemons is really having a moment; here, he manages to make an unappealing character, the cringing acolyte of a tyrannical boss, utterly riveting. The car crashes, along with every detail of Robert’s life from his marriage to the meals he is allowed to eat, are masterminded by his boss Raymond, played by Willem Dafoe . Lanthimos seems to have made it his life’s purpose to get Dafoe to go full Voldemort. As in so many other aspects of his gloriously excessive filmmaking, he has now wholly succeeded.

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In between these two stories comes a different slant on death, grief and torment, in which Plemons plays a decent, dull police officer whose wife Liz — Stone again — is part of a scientific team lost while investigating marine life on remote reefs. Plemons’ Daniel is deranged with worry, but when Liz returns he is convinced the woman in his house is an imposter. Liz responds to his hostility with a deluge of endearments and abject willingness to obey his every demand. He has obviously gone mad – what kind of man demands his wife cooks her own fingers for his dinner? – but it is true that the woman in his kitchen doesn’t seem much like an intrepid adventurer.

Strange things happen, but this isn’t a ghost story. Lanthimos is not interested in the uncanny so much as the ominous, an atmosphere underlined in all three stories with a jabbing piano score by Jerskin Fendrix and emphasized by cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s alternating lenses, wacky angles, extreme close-ups and a repeating motif of gleaming surfaces. Indeed, the polished wood floors, walls and ceilings in Daniel and Liz’s rustic bungalow in the second story, which give the entire episode an increasingly sanguinary glow, deserve a credit of their own. 

Of course, the attention to set detail means you always know exactly where you are in a Lanthimos film: the flower arrangement on an occasional table, a maze of overstuffed beige couches, or the spread of wasteland visible from a window tell the stories of the people in this excruciatingly tidy house, this dazzlingly glazed office, this murkily-purposed institution. Lanthimos could give David Cronenberg a run for his money on murkily-purposed institutions. 

So here it is, the new Lanthimos: puzzling, brilliant and, in all honesty, not easy to like. What is this teasingly unfathomable filmmaker telling us? We may never know, any more than we will find out why RMF is a marked man. Perhaps the point is that RMF is just a pawn in a succession of other men’s games, including Lanthimos’ own. That in itself is more than enough food for thought. 

Title:  Kinds of Kindness Festival:  Cannes (Competition) Distributor: Searchlight Pictures /Disney Director : Yorgos Lanthimos Screenwriter:  Efthimis Filippou Cast:  Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau Running time:  2 hr 45 min

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Roger Corman, Hollywood mentor and ‘King of the Bs,’ dies at 98

Roger Corman, the Oscar-winning “King of the Bs” who helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors early breaks, has died. He was 98. Corman died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California, his daughter Catherine Corman said Saturday in a statement.

FILE - Roger Corman addresses the audience during the awards ceremony of the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. Corman, the Oscar-winning “King of the Bs” who helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors an early break, died Thursday, May 9, 2024. He was 98. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

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FILE - Producer Roger Corman poses in his Los Angeles office, May 8, 2013. Corman, the Oscar-winning “King of the Bs” who helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors an early break, died Thursday, May 9, 2024. He was 98. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

FILE - Roger Corman arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of “The Irishman,” Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, at the TCL Chinese Theatre. Corman, the Oscar-winning “King of the Bs” who helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors an early break, died Thursday, May 9, 2024. He was 98. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Roger Corman, the “King of the Bs” who helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors early breaks, has died. He was 98.

Corman died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California, according to a statement released Saturday by his wife and daughters.

“He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,” the statement said. “When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that.’”

Starting in 1955, Corman helped create hundreds of B-movies as a producer and director, among them “Black Scorpion,” “Bucket of Blood” and “Bloody Mama.” A remarkable judge of talent, he hired such aspiring filmmakers as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron and Martin Scorsese. In 2009, Corman received an honorary Academy Award.

“There are many constraints connected with working on a low budget, but at the same time there are certain opportunities,” Corman said in a 2007 documentary about Val Lewton, the 1940s director of “Cat People” and other underground classics.

“You can gamble a little bit more. You can experiment. You have to find a more creative way to solve a problem or to present a concept,” he said.

The roots of Hollywood’s golden age in the 1970s can be found in Corman’s films.

Jack Nicholson made his film debut as the title character in a 1958 Corman quickie, “The Cry Baby Killer,” and stayed with the company for biker, horror and action films, writing and producing some of them. Other actors whose careers began in Corman movies included Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern and Ellen Burstyn.

Peter Fonda’s appearance in “The Wild Angels” was a precursor to his own landmark biker movie, “Easy Rider,” co-starring Nicholson and fellow Corman alumnus Dennis Hopper. “Boxcar Bertha,” starring Barbara Hershey and David Carradine, was an early film by Scorsese.

Corman’s B-movie directors were given minuscule budgets and often told to finish their films in as little as five days. When Howard, who would go on to win a best director Oscar for “A Beautiful Mind,” pleaded for an extra half day to reshoot a scene in 1977 for “Grand Theft Auto,” Corman told him, “Ron, you can come back if you want, but nobody else will be there.”

“Roger Corman was my very first boss, my lifetime mentor and my hero. Roger was one of the greatest visionaries in the history of cinema,” Gale Anne Hurd, whose notable producing credits include the “Terminator” film franchise, “The Abyss” and “The Walking Dead” television series, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Initially only drive-ins and specialty theaters would book Corman films, but as teenagers began turning out, national chains gave in. Corman’s pictures were open for their time about sex and drugs, such as his 1967 release “The Trip,” an explicit story about LSD written by Nicholson and starring Fonda and Hopper.

Meanwhile, he discovered a lucrative sideline releasing prestige foreign films in the United States, among them Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers,” Federico Fellini’s “Amarcord” and Volker Schlondorff’s “The Tin Drum.” The latter two won Oscars for best foreign language film.

Corman got his start as a messenger boy for Twentieth Century-Fox, eventually graduating to story analyst. After quitting the business briefly to study English literature for a term at Oxford University, he returned to Hollywood and launched his career as a movie producer and director.

Despite his penny-pinching ways, Corman retained good relations with his directors, boasting that he never fired one because “I wouldn’t want to inflict that humiliation.”

Some of his former underlings repaid his kindness years later. Coppola cast him in “The Godfather, Part II,” Jonathan Demme included him in “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia” and Howard gave him a part in “Apollo 13.”

Most of Corman’s movies were quickly forgotten by all but die-hard fans. A rare exception was 1960’s “Little Shop of Horrors,” which starred a bloodthirsty plant that feasted on humans and featured Nicholson in a small but memorable role as a pain-loving dental patient. It inspired a long-lasting stage musical and a 1986 musical adaptation starring Steve Martin, Bill Murray and John Candy.

In 1963, Corman initiated a series of films based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The most notable was “The Raven,” which teamed Nicholson with veteran horror stars Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone. Directed by Corman on a rare three-week schedule, the horror spoof won good reviews, a rarity for his films. Another Poe adaptation, “House of Usher,” was deemed worthy of preservation by the Library of Congress.

“It was my privilege to know him. He was a great friend. He shaped my childhood with science fiction movies and Edgar Allen Poe epics,” John Carpenter, director of “Halloween,” “The Thing” and other classic horror and action films, said on X. “I’ll miss you, Roger.”

Near the end of his life, Karloff starred in another Corman-backed effort, the 1968 thriller “Targets,” which marked Peter Bogdanovich’s directorial debut.

Corman’s success prompted offers from major studios, and he directed “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” and “Von Richthofen and Brown” on normal budgets. Both were disappointments, however, and he blamed their failure on front-office interference.

Roger William Corman was born in Detroit and raised in Beverly Hills, but “not in the affluent section,” he once said. He attended Stanford University, earning a degree in engineering, and arrived in Hollywood after three years in the Navy.

After his stint at Oxford, he worked as a television stagehand and literary agent before finding his life’s work.

In 1964 he married Julie Halloran, a UCLA graduate who also became a producer.

He is survived by his wife, Julie, and children Catherine, Roger, Brian and Mary.

This obituary was written by the late Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas, who died in 2014 .

The story was first published on May 11, 2024. It was updated on May 13, 2024, to correct the middle name of producer Gale Anne Hurd.

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“The question is, do you have what it takes to make it epic,” says an undaunted Chris Hemsworth . It’s a call to action that comes toward the end of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” George Miller ’s apocalyptic epic western prequel to “ Mad Max: Fury Road ” that could, of course, be directed at Miller himself. Because this film is here to give you more: more gravity-defying chases, more high-flying stunts, more deeply felt pathos, and, somehow, an even greater spirit to push the limits of what the frame can hold—employing Christian iconography and Arthurian legend to craft an entrancing story that still manages to surprise, even if we already know of the bleak future its guiding us toward. It’s simply one of the best prequels ever made.  

Broken into five chapters, each denser than the last, the film begins with a very young Furiosa ( Alyla Browne ) picking fruit from a tree near her bucolic homeland “The Green Place.” A biker gang arrives to forage the land. And though Furiosa ably attempts to sabotage their bikes, she is captured, causing her mother ( Charlee Fraser ) to venture out into the desert wasteland to retrieve her. A crazed chase ensues, one of the film’s many expansive set pieces, that sees Furiosa’s mother pursuing her daughter’s kidnappers over sand dunes and through a sandstorm, to the steps of a hideout belonging to the messianic figure Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). This is the beginning of a decade-long feud between Furiosa and Dementus that involves revenge, grief, and the desire to return home. 

To do any further summarizing would, of course, not only spoil the film, but would also say that the narrative beats are necessary. They’re not. That doesn’t mean “Furiosa” is illogical, rather that, more than anything, Miller is telling an emotional story of how a once virtuous child became a hardened woman. That kind of arc matches well with the film’s operatic sensibilities as we’re introduced to the origins of wasteland fortresses like Gas Town and Bullet Town, and taken to the Citadel helmed by a younger, more imposing Immortan Joe ( Lachy Hulme ). Other characters like Immortan Joe’s bumbling sons Rictus ( Nathan Jones ) and Scrotus (Josh Helmen) return, and tips of the hat are given to fan favorites from “Fury Road.”

Surprisingly, the older Furiosa (a striking Anya Taylor-Joy ) doesn’t appear until an hour or so in the film. That might inspire immediate disappointment in some, but it shouldn’t: Because Alyla Browne as the adolescent Furiosa is so absorbing, often recalling a young Jodie Foster in her mixture of otherworldly intelligence and relentless confidence. The groundwork she lays is so seamless that by the time we leap forward to Taylor-Joy’s take on the character, it required a few beats before I could tell the difference between the two actresses. 

Miller is so assured at reading an audience, he even crafts an elongated chase that sees Furiosa driving across the wasteland with Praetorian Jack ( Tom Burke ) on an oil run that gives Taylor-Joy and the character the perfect entrance: a hard-push in for a worthy close-up. Though Burke is on screen for a relatively short time, he and Taylor-Joy build quick chemistry as two lost souls who believe that paradise still exists somewhere in the world if they follow the map of stars tattooed on Furiosa’s forearm. 

If it feels like Hemsworth is an also-ran, he isn’t. Which is odd to say because he is saddled with a terrible wig and an obtrusive prosthetic nose, and even disappears for long stretches. Still, whenever he does show up, he might be the best part of “Furiosa.” He doesn’t just get the best, more instantly quotable lines. He has never been more physically commanding, first as a poised messiah and swindler, then as a blow-hard politician, then as an emperor with no clothes on. The combination of Dementus’ wit, callousness, and cold calculations is a persona Hemsworth has worked on for some time and it all comes together here for an unforgettable villain turn.  

I can certainly nitpick about what elements I prefer in “Fury Road” as opposed to “Furiosa.” There’s far more VFX in the latter, causing me to miss some of the thrills Miller inspired with his unflinching use of practical effect. I also think that “Fury Road” acts on a subtler thematic level, which is saying something, because the visual language in that film—for as immaculate as the craftsmanship is—basically bashes you over the head. “Furiosa” goes one step further; every line of dialogue flags the metaphorical importance of every scene. And yet, it’s easy to ignore these tiny grievances not only because you’re left marveling at the big swing Miller is taking, but also because his interest in this world, these characters, and this type of big, bold storytelling is so infectious. There’s also a character named piss boy, so this really is a movie with something for everyone. 

No one knows how to do scale better than Miller. Margaret Sixel and Eliot Knapman ’s editing is breathtakingly seamless—quickly building both rapport between characters and gnarly deaths with equal tenacity—to the point that DP Simon Duggan ’s eloquent photography of these desolate death valleys, matched by composer Tom Holkenborg deafeningly propulsive score, wholly immerses you in way that isn’t needlessly showing. Each large set piece feels necessary, aware of space and story, and brimming with a camera that takes delight in knowing exactly what kill shot or angle of the many battles we want to take in as it swoops between lunging bodies, massive infernos, monster trucks, big rigs, and over sand dunes. 

Much will be written about “Furiosa” on a thematic level, such as how it subverts the Biblical apple scene for a well-earned ending or how it speaks of our present environmental, militaristic, and regressive political reality—particularly why we go to war and the fecklessness of the leaders who take us there. But this is also just a big, entertaining popcorn movie, told with a sense of adventure and play. Miller isn’t here for tawdry melodrama, algorithmic plotting, or art designed for the small screen. “Furiosa” aims to blow you away. And it does. To Valhalla and beyond. 

This review was filed from the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. It opens on May 24th.

Robert Daniels

Robert Daniels is an Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com. Based in Chicago, he is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) and Critics Choice Association (CCA) and regularly contributes to the  New York Times ,  IndieWire , and  Screen Daily . He has covered film festivals ranging from Cannes to Sundance to Toronto. He has also written for the Criterion Collection, the  Los Angeles Times , and  Rolling Stone  about Black American pop culture and issues of representation.

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Film credits.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

148 minutes

Anya Taylor-Joy as Imperator Furiosa

Chris Hemsworth as Warlord Dementus

Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack

Lachy Hulme as Immortan Joe / Rizzdale Pell

Angus Sampson as The Organic Mechanic

Nathan Jones as Rictus Erectus

• George Miller
• Nico Lathouris

Original Music Composer

• Tom Holkenborg

Director of Photography

• Simon Duggan
• Eliot Knapman
• Margaret Sixel

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