Three Filipinas bond over their dilemmas and needs to earn cash in the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka, Japan.
Hiyasmin Macaraig (Meg Imperial) is saving for the kidney transplant of his father. So she works on different odd jobs, after the restaurant she works in decided to close.
Cynthia Mae Valdes or CM (Ella Cruz) provides for her jobless live-in partner and their kid. She is an English tutor coming to Japan, but she now works as a bartender.
Mitch Sarmiento (Jennifer Lee) is a bright student from Kitakyushu. However, she developed an addiction to Pachinko due to the stress of studying. She is now trying to pay back the hundreds of Yen she owes to the loan shark, Ayumi.
After helping a woman named Platinum (Nathalie Hart) fight off her abusive but rich husband, the three girls decided to join her intention for revenge.
The plan is to steal a bag full of cash inside a billiards place. At first, they are hesitant. Going against a notorious crime lord could potentially kill them.
But their determination for freedom and for family weighs more than fear of death or capture.
Not many films are getting a chance to be made during the pandemic. Yet, here is Bona Fajardo's quirky caper, “Steal”.
There is no significant expectation on this film, given that the production team only got two weeks in Japan to shoot it before Covid-19 hits the country. So it is expected that there is a decline in value, and it probably will not be one of the best Filipino films this 2021. But who knows, right?
Alas, “Steal” has too many issues that need fixing. The real problem of the film, though, is not the limited time and resources. But the writing itself.
The screenplay of Enrique S. Villasis is trying so hard to be clever. But in reality, it is plagued with plotholes from scene to scene.
Moreover, it keeps on throwing curveballs at the viewers, which becomes increasingly annoying. Plot twists can work wonders in the story when you least expected it. However, all the twists and turns in this film are predictable.
The motives of the four protagonists to steal are also questionable, absurd, and unconvincing. Filipinos are inherently hard-working, diligent, honest, and resourceful people. So for them to steal money, their motives should be beyond determination. But the film settles on some familiar excuses to trigger the story.
The plot is a little hard to follow as it jumps from different times in the story. And the story itself is laughable. It is so overly dramatic and silly. It might work if they removed the crime aspect of this film entirely. And focus on the core message of the story, which is all about sisterhood.
There is no character development, and Japan is woefully underutilized. It is a beautiful country, rich in culture and history. It is a pity that it has no purpose in the story besides being the setting.
“Steal” is not a terrible film; it is watchable. But it is far from being a good one. It got ideas and, probably with more time for development, it might work. However, the possibility of recreating this film is close to impossible. So we can just only dream of a better version of this movie.
1.5/5
