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On the President's Orders

Name: On the President's Orders
Director: Olivier Sarbil, James Jones
Released: 2019
Duration: 70 min

Representation Score

6.4/10

Good

2019

TV-PG

Director

Olivier Sarbil, James Jones

Runtime

70 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

On the President's Orders is a powerful investigative documentary that shifts the power dynamic from state authority to the individual. By centering the victims of the Philippine drug war, it provides a sophisticated critique of institutional corruption and the human cost of political mandates. The film excels at deconstructing Western-centric views of crime and punishment. It successfully utilizes a thriller-like aesthetic to force an empathetic engagement with systemic violence in the Global South. While the film provides deep cultural and racial insight, it lacks specific information regarding LGBTQ+ or disability representation. The narrative structure is primarily built around class, state power, and socio-political conflict.

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Category Breakdown

Does On the President's Orders have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film focuses on the socio-political conflict of the drug war. There is no explicit evidence of LGBTQ+ characters or stories about non-straight or non-cisgender identities.

How does On the President's Orders portray gender?

Fair

The narrative centers an ordinary family from the slums, providing a platform for underrepresented voices. This shift from state actors to the domestic sphere gives real power to those often sidelined.

How racially and ethnically diverse is On the President's Orders?

Excellent

The film achieves high representation by centering a non-Western perspective. It prioritizes the lived experiences of a non-white majority cast within the specific socio-economic realities of Manila.

How does On the President's Orders represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The documentary offers a deep critique of state institutions and the Philippine government's drug war. It portrays victims as complex human beings rather than mere criminals.

Does On the President's Orders include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no specific evidence regarding the portrayal of physical or neurodivergent disabilities within the available synopsis.

Present on Screen

Centering a non-Western, non-Anglo-Saxon perspective provides nuanced insight into a Global South context.
The film challenges state-led authority by highlighting the discrepancy between official orders and extra-judicial killings.
By focusing on a family in the slums, the film grants real power to those typically underrepresented by government narratives.

Limited or Absent

The film lacks explicit representation or narrative focus regarding LGBTQ+ identities.
There is no evidence of how physical or neurodivergent disabilities are portrayed or addressed.
The narrative focus remains heavily centered on class and state power rather than gender identity.

Official Synopsis

The searing story of President Duterte's bloody campaign against drug dealers and addicts in the Philippines, told with unprecedented and intimate access to both sides of the war - the Manila police, and an ordinary family from the slum. Shot in the style of a thriller, this observational film combines the look and feel of a narrative feature film with a real life revelatory journalistic investigation into a campaign of killings. The film uncovers a murky world where crime, drugs and politics meet in a deathly embrace - and reveal that although the police have been publicly ordered to stop extra-judicial killings, the deaths continue.

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