Give Up Tomorrow

A riveting nonfiction exposé, filmmaker Michael Collins' Give Up Tomorrow focuses on a notorious murder trial in the Philippines that has kept seven men—most likely innocent—imprisoned for 15 years. In 1997, a group of students from well-to-do families were arrested for the rape/murder of the young Chiong sisters. A trash-media frenzy whipped up sentiment against the young males, especially 19-year-old Paco Larrañaga, scion of a politically-connected farm family, who had an airtight alibi of being hundreds of miles away (on Manila, a whole separate island) during the crime. A corruption-ridden fiasco of a trial—during which it was revealed that the dead bodies found weren't even the victimized girls, who remain missing—convicted all of the accused, and only a series of international legal/human rights maneuvers have kept Paco from execution. A great drama often calls for a great villain, and serving that role here is bereaved mother Thelma Chiong, finessing her tragic celebrity into a "victims' rights" career as a Filipino political power broker (in a DVD extra, the director claims that Mrs. Chiong's grief is real and that she deserves sympathy too, however self-serving and misplaced her lust for revenge). Other extras include deleted scenes and film festival highlights. Although the documentary ultimately reveals that the filmmakers are related to the Larrañaga family—making the advocacy slant here perfectly clear—this remains a powerful and moving tale of a likely travesty of justice. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)