9 /10

Like most other people in the world, I have heard tidbits about the controversy of the new drug war in the Philippines. Like many in the US, I have known and worked with Filipinos here in the US and that also influenced my interest in this series. Many do not realize, it used to be a protectorate of the US. So, although it has a distinct culture, there is also a noticeable amount of influence that remains from that former association with the US. Having familiar American businesses there (McDo, Krispy Kreme, etc) it almost seems to present an alternate reality of the America that we know and this can provide a very interesting foreign culture that is still somewhat familiar to the American viewer. Therefore, I had a burning curiosity for more information about this war on drugs and how it is being implemented and how the general population is reacting to it. Not living in the Philippines, it is otherwise difficult to get a pulse on this type of perspective. I felt that my chance discovery of this series, Amo, was possibly a fateful answer to my questions. So I dove into it not knowing what to expect. I found it immediately engaging and could not stop watching episode after episode! I felt that the actors were very good and appealing. The stories interweave on many levels but are much more believable asdociations than many American soaps that try to do this same thing.



I came away from it feeling very informed and somewhat ill at my stomach from some of the carnage that appears to be taking place there. I feel that the producers have done a great service in presenting this drama/documentary in such and engaging and watchable way.



Occasionally the editing was a bit rough, I am not sure if that was due to its transition to Netflix or if that was an original fault. Although it is not a high budget series, I found its gritty reality to be endearing of my interest, not a detriment.