A masterwork. Opens new vistas in the future of the cinema.”The New Yorker
Isabel, a 17-year-old from the rural north of the Philippines, works at an elite country club outside Manila, lining up golf balls for powerful men. New to the job of tee-girl, she wanders the immaculate grounds sampling the club’s luxuries as its members engage in a complex dance with the doting and subservient staff. But something is rotting beneath the pristine fairways, as Isabel discovers when she tries to return a mislaid golf club to its patriarchal director, Dr. Palanca. The deeper she journeys into its most exclusive corners, the closer she gets to the violent truths of the club, her native Philippines, and her own past.
The debut feature from Rafael Manuel, it won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision at Sundance 2026 and reveals a major new filmmaking talent.
Credits
Singapore, UK, Philippines, France, Netherlands 2026
100 min
Certificate TBC
Dir Rafael Manuel
With Jorrybell Agoto, Carmen Castellanos, Teroy Guzman
Screenings
November
20 November
BFI Southbank, London
The Garden Cinema, London
ICA, London
Light House Dublin
Rio Cinema, London
27 November
Chapter Cardiff
29 November
The Cube, Bristol
December
2 December
Close-Up Film Centre
11 December
Totnes Cinema
14 December
The Rex, Berkhamsted
20 December
Maona Cinema, Oswestry