Netflix: Review of PULA: A Corrupted Coco

May 5, 2024

Daniel Faraon (Coco Martin) worked as a police officer in the town of Pola, Oriental Mindoro, under Chief of Police P/Capt. Raymond P. Anacta (Raymart Santiago). He lived with his wife, school teacher Magda (Julia Montes) and their two young sons. One day, Daniel and Ramona Abella (Jennifer "Ina" Mindanao Cruz) were assigned to investigate a corpse of a young woman found in a grassy area in remote Barangay Bato. 

The deceased was identified to be Patricia (Christine Bermas), the teenage daughter of Canor and Elena Rivera (Allan Paule and Lotlot de Leon). Her parents were very religious folk, regular churchgoers who prayed the rosary every night. However, Patricia would sneak behind her folks' back to meet her boyfriend Jeff (Vince Rillon) for naughty trysts. After Patricia was buried, prime suspect Jeff had already skipped town and gone off to Manila. 

Coco Martin became a huge mainstream star following his long-running TV series "Ang Probinsyano" (2015-2022). Since then, he still goes back to his indie roots with his original mentor director Brillante Mendoza. Their partnership as lead actor and director started with "Masahista" (2005), followed by Cannes-pedigreed films "Serbis" (2008) and "Kinatay" (2009) -- the latter even winning Mendoza the coveted Best Director award in Cannes. 

Their last project together was "Apag" (2022), an unsettling film with a grisly ending where Martin played a very flawed lead character very different from his iconic TV hero persona Cardo Dalisay. This time around, Mendoza upped the ante on corrupting Martin's stellar image some more by casting him as the insidious monster Daniel Faraon, whose pent-up violence exploded full blast berserk when his reprehensible secret was revealed.  

My main beef about this movie was about how supporting actress Christine Bermas was treated in this movie. Yes, she began her career doing Vivamax soft porn movies, making an auspicious debut in "Siklo" (2022). However, she did show promise as an actress even if the projects did not really serve to showcase her talents. When I saw her name in the cast of "Pula," I thought she would finally do a movie without having to bare. 

But alas, her breasts were still exposed unnecessarily in an early playful scene with her boyfriend, and later during her rape scene. However, the worst of the lot was that scene when her remains were shown to her parents. When her face was revealed, the sheet was lifted all the way to expose her two breasts the whole time. How could Lotlot de Leon allow a scene where she had to cry over her dead daughter with her bosoms bare for all to see?! For that matter, how could Jennifer Mindanao Cruz, in the role of a police officer and being the real-life mayor of Pola town, not object to this offensive scene being shot? 

The sickening feeling of exploitation gets even worse when it was revealed by Elena that Patricia was only 15 years old, so the more then that her modesty was preserved during the investigation. A WCPD (Women and Children Protection Desk) officer should have been there to keep the victim, both a female and a child, safe. Her tombstone even stated that she was born July 15, 2006 and died April 11, 2018, making her all of 11 years old. Even if the actress Christine Bermas is already a consenting adult at 23, her character Patricia (at 15 or 11) is still very much a minor, so sensitivity should have been observed in her delicate scenes. 1/10.