[1] The film tells the story of teenage antihero Tony de Guzman and the rough neighborhood he calls home.
Tony knows nothing but tough times living, as he does, in the bleak circus of the slums he calls home amongst denizens of the underworld: the crippled pimp, the lonely housewife, the neighborhood gay and his macho father, the prostitutes, the small-time politician, and the Yankee pedophile.
[4] Writes critic Richard Bolisay: "This film has lived up to its name—cranky, blasphemous, berserk, carnivorous—for the nightmare is not only overdosed, it is sacrilegious, the darkness is so imperial it looks like a work of evil, a devil of a craftsman Khavn is—and there is no point in deconstructing its stark elements because it only extinguishes the fire.
"[5]In 2004, Khavn shot Mondomanila: Institute of Poets based on the short story which won a Palanca in 2000.
This time around, it was co-produced by the German film company, Rapid Eye Movies, co-managed by Stephan Holl and Antoinette Köster.
[10] In an interview with Festival Scope during the film's premiere in Rotterdam, Khavn was asked why he did not choose to do a literal adaptation of the novel.
However, the film is a strange creature altogether, more venomous than any of Waters’ trash and more useful than any of Jodorowsky’s excesses.
"[12] Indiocine's Macky Macarayan found some of the characters confusing, and believes a traditional ending featuring the narrator would have served the film better.
[14] Film blogger Sanriel Ajero finds Mondomanila "quite offensive, as one would expect from the sick mind of Khavn, and by this virtue alone, should warrant a divisive reaction from its audience" but praises its vision.
Surely one of the few brave local directors we have now, that continually pushes the boundaries of violence and gore, even of lyricism and poetry.”[15] Lagarista's Dodo Dayao calls Mondomanila "Glee on crack", likening it to Dusan Makavejev’s Sweet Movie but calls it "quintessential Khavn.