Our screening on Saturday 21 November will be followed by a Q&A with director Rafael Manuel.

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, but she soon discovers something is

rotting beneath the pristine fairways.

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.

The Garden Cinema View:

Initially, the pastel colour scheme, direct address camera angles, and offbeat tone might lead you to expect a kind of Wes Anderson spin on social satire. But as you settle into the unhurried and deliberate pace of Rafael Manuel’s debut feature, a very different film emerges. Scenes play out a somewhat drowsy length, rarely cutting as odd vignettes develop. The overall effect is more akin to the deadpan melancholy of Roy Andersson than his almost namesake Wes. This is a meld of slow cinema, intricate composition, and deceptive political rage that might emerge if you let Apichatpong Weerasethakul direct a season of The White Lotus.

An impressively different debut that should resonate with anyone who passed by a suspiciously green golf course during last summer’s heatwaves and hosepipe ban.

Cast:
Jorrybell Agoto, Carmen Castellanos, Teroy Guzman