Life
in Metro Manila is social Darwinism at its worst. For Ms. Dela Cruz, her sudden
unemployment is the least of it. Small eruptions of violence threaten to flare
up around her on her last night pumping gas at a foreclosed service station. By
the way, this is a comedy. Needless to say, the humor comes in fifty shades of
pitch black in Carlo Francisco Manatad’s short film, Jodilerks Dela Cruz, Employee of the Month (trailer here), which screens
during the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.
That
would be her face we see dominating the Employee of the Month chart. That was
then. Tonight, Dela Cruz is trying to sell RC bottles filled with gas, while
her co-worker scratches off all the lottery tickets. Unlike her, he probably
never really cared, but she will try to make up for lost time in one night.
Unfortunately, some of their Clerky antics will not be taken in the spirit of
Kevin Smith.
In
terms of tone, we are talking really gosh-darn dark here, but it also funny, in
a ruthless kind of way. Yet, we have to say, Manatad manages to capture that
wistful end-of-an-era, last-day-of-school vibe. As a result, we can identify
with Dela Cruz and her slacker shift-mate on an acutely personal level, even
though we have (hopefully) never had a final day on the job like this.
Angeli
Bayani (a well-established thesp, known for prestige pictures like Ilo Ilo) is a marvel of understatement
as the quietly simmering Dela Cruz. Her bracing work is a perfect example why
there should be more awards for acting in short films. Ross Pesigan also plays
off her well as the more outspoken Randal to her Dante (another Clerks reference).
