Green Bones: 100 minutes of kindness

Told in one hour and 40 minutes, Green Bones is gospel truth on why it is important to be kind.

- BUM D. TENORIO, JR.

Told in one hour and 40 minutes, Green Bones is gospel truth on why it is important to be kind. It is about the re-evaluation of the human spirit that’s known darkness and the capacity of the soul to rectify mistakes. The film is a master class about finding both the lamb and the beast in one’s humanity and choosing willfully which one to nurture.

Green Bones, produced by powerhouse GMA Pictures, is a prison story with a heart. It’s both dark and soulful, gritty and grateful. These are the same characteristics found in the life of a criminal named Dom Zamora (Dennis Trillo), who was accused of killing his own sister. It could have been a twin-murder case lodged against him had the dead body of the young, mute daughter of Dom’s sister, whose disappearance is also blamed on Dom, been found.

The plot is confounded by the presence of a prison officer named Xavier Gonzaga (Ruru Madrid), an intelligent cop who grieves over the murder of his own sister. Xavier, because of his prejudice against murderers, opposes the imminent release of Dom. The almost silent tug-o-war between them becomes gripping and apparent, boiling at the seams, providing a visual interlude of good and evil.

At some point, the conflict between Dom and Xavier is akin to the eagle-eye vigilance of Javert on Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. But the plot provides a more harrowing reality than the tension between Dom and Xavier as Green Bones, adjudged the best film at the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2024, also exposes greed and corruption in the penitentiary and the flaws of the country’s justice system.