Dead men tell no tales

Eddie Garcia in “ML”

Benedict Mique’s “ML” has its share of flaws and awkward moments, but what it lacks in storytelling flair and staging, it more than makes up for in timely pertinence, cruel humor and the cautionary lessons it dispenses.

Wearing its well-meaning heart on its sleeve with its tongue firmly in cheek, the Cinemalaya film tells the story of how college student Carlo (Tony Labrusca) and his friends (Henz Villaraiz, Lianne Valentin) get more than they bargain for when they come face-to-face with retired colonel Dela Cruz (Eddie Garcia), who personifies impunity and the evils of Ferdinand Marcos’ martial law regime.

Carlo and his classmates think that their history professor’s perfervid warnings against historical revisionism are nothing but fear-sowing hogwash and classroom bravado.

But when they finally see the dark side lurking behind the former police officer’s affable artifice—limned to sinister perfection by the production’s 89-year-old award-winning lead actor—they realize what happens when people allow apathy to rear its ugly head.

As they say, dead men tell no tales—and it’s time we help tell their stories for them.

Tony Labrusca plays Carlo.