Jess is a pickpocket and having a long day that highlights the flaws in the Philippines police and judicial system. Young and poor, Jess steals a woman’s mobile phone in a crowded market. The woman is more concerned about a sex video on the phone than the phone itself and after a series of failed attempts, she manages to catch Jess with the help of the police. From then on, the film meticulously details the process of Jess’ interrogation, his summary trial and returning the mobile phone to the nervous woman. Competent though he is, detective domingo ignores Jess’ human rights and frequently punishes the criminals as he sees fit. In his previous film, <Amok>, director Lawrence Fajardo rendered an intensely realistic Manila crime scene and the victims wrapped up in it. Instead of rousing tension in the way he did in that film, <Shackled> follows a story to its conclusion in a very realistic and linear narrative structure. The film ends as a gruesome anatomy of Philippine society. (KIM Ji-Seok)