Cinema: Netflix’s ‘Dead Kids’ Knocks Them Dead

The Philippines come to life in Netflix’s latest drama, Dead Kids. Dead Kids, which originally premiered at the Cinema One Originals Film Festival, recently debuted on Netflix as the first original film from the Philippines. Created by the Red Brothers and directed by Mikhail Red, the film is a deadly take on high school revenge. Dead Kids is subtitled in English but spoken in a mixture of Tagalog and English.

Both in the film’s diegetic world, as well as in reality, Manila has taken a harsh stance on drug usage and abuse. Similar to public opinion for Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, the “Davao Death Squad”, a task force charged with cracking down on supposed Communist members as well as drug users, has been met with conflicting opinion. While the DDS is reportedly intended to be ensuring public peace and safety, there is an undeniable presence of extrajudicial killings as well as political corruption in their dealings. Dead Kids doesn’t go too political in its exhibition, but this background is useful to know in order to understand character motivation or some of the references made. For example, one of the most poignant lines of dialogue is one of the most underplayed, “Cops only kill poor people”.  

The plot to Dead Kids is like a combination of Heathers (Michael Lehmann 1989) and Horrible Bosses 2 (Sean Anders 2014). There’s enough kidnapping, drugs, and teenage angst to go around for everyone! Sta. Maria (Kelvin Miranda) is the ‘dead kid’ of his high school, a loner whose struggle for money causes him to do other students’ homework for petty cash. On the other end of the high school hierarchy, is Chuck Santos (Markus Peterson), a good looking, wealthy charmer who lacks nothing but manners. As the son of a prominent drug lord, Chuck is flush with both money and freedom. Surprisingly, the film doesn’t open up with Sta. Maria, but rather a sequence reminiscent of another film-making brother duo, the Cohen Brothers. In a shady spa, the film opens in media res, with an introspective and intimate glimpse into Chuck’s private life, even having him joke about “daddy issues”.  Instead of a sympathetic pat (or more) from his twin masseurs, Chuck is kidnapped by four masked figures, later revealed to be the four main protagonists.

A kidnapped and struggling Chuck (Markus Peterson).

Speaking of the four, aside from Sta. Maria, the other teenage kidnappers include Paolo (Khalil Ramos), who is set up as the comic relief. He’s a rich kid who, while not as self-conceited or vapid as Chuck, is essentially a wisecracking jokester who may or may not take his jokes too far. Usually at the butt end of them, is Uy (Jan Silverio), a fellow victim of Chuck’s bullying and the “Sun Tzu” of the group. Acting as the default leader, is Blanco (Vance Larena), the son or a corrupt cop. Blanco is the driving force behind their crew, gathering the boys together and creating the plan. Despite his animosity towards Chuck, Chuck’s drug lord father is actually Blanco’s godfather, a fact the other boys endlessly rag on him for.

Part of what makes their performances so unique and believable, is the fact that they’re not acting like try hards, they’re acting like what they are: kids. These aren’t seasoned and veteran criminals, they’re confused and easily distracted teenagers, stuck in between a rock and a hard place. They’re easily scared and constantly sidetracked by other events, such as slow-motion food fights or the school’s play. None of them are bad guys – with maybe the exception of Blanco who takes the first step into more nefarious territory – but they are willing to do bad in order to have good. Be it peace from Chuck or a stable sense of financial security, each of the four has something to gain and everything to lose.

Despite the high stakes of their plan, the film does a marvelous job of wavering between comedy and drama. In fact, about three fourths of the film is probably more comedic than anything. The boys keep getting distracted by other “meaningful” events or concerns, such as Paolo’s girlfriend, Yssa (Gabby Padilla), threatening to break up with him if he continues to keep secrets or Sta. Maria’s crush on aspiring actress, Janina (Sue Ramirez). While not having as much screen time as the boys, these two girls are important in their own right. Yssa is directly involved with the film’s climax and implied to be responsible for the following confrontation. Janina, especially post-kidnapping, helps contrast the severity of what Sta. Maria and his friends just did with the mediocrity of high school life. Stage fright during a school play is nothing in comparison to potential prison time. It’s not until the final twenty minutes of so that Dead Kids ditches the kiddie floats and dives into more adult waters.

Left to Right: Paolo (Khalil Ramos), Blanco (Vance Larena), and Sta. Maria (Kelvin Miranda).

For a film featuring a drug lord, there’s not too much emphasis on the seedy underbelly of that world. Drugs, and all that stems from it, are more in the background of the boys’ shenanigans. They’re present, but not prioritized. Instead, mentions of financial struggle or familial expectations take precedence. As such, the narrative can feel kind of rushed, be it in the relationships or in the pacing, but like most things associated with teenagers, the speed of it all is not surprising. The most surprising part of the film is the fact that it’s based on actual events. Not precisely everything is accurate or true, but there was a student in Manila who was abducted by his fellow classmates. While not the most intense of films, Dead Kids is worth the watch. It’s a coming of age story that stays rooted in adolescence. Mistakes are made, lessons are not learned, but even so, viewers can relate and will enjoy.