• 177.873 movies
  • 12.196 shows
  • 33.962 seasons
  • 646.802 actors
  • 9.369.485 votes
Avatar
Profile
 
banner banner

The Garden of Earthly Delights (2025)

Drama | 124 minutes
3,80 20 votes

Genre: Drama

Duration: 124 minuten

Country: Netherlands

Directed by: Morgan Knibbe

Stars: Janina Lorelei and Joshua Eliason

IMDb score: 7,9 (149)

Releasedate: 22 March 2025

US
UK

This movie is not available on US streaming services.

JustWatch

The Garden of Earthly Delights plot

In the slums of a Philippine metropolis, 11-year-old Ginto fights for his survival, dignity and freedom. He firmly rejects his sister's concerns; he would rather be a gangster than depend on garbage cans. While he struggles with his blossoming sexuality, identity and feelings for another boy, his path crosses that of Dutch tourist Michael.

Reviews & comments


avatar

Guest

  • messages
  • votes

Let op: In verband met copyright is het op MovieMeter.nl niet toegestaan om de inhoud van externe websites over te nemen, ook niet met bronvermelding. Je mag natuurlijk wel een link naar een externe pagina plaatsen, samen met je eigen beschrijving of eventueel de eerste alinea van de tekst. Je krijgt deze waarschuwing omdat het er op lijkt dat je een lange tekst hebt geplakt in je bericht.

* denotes required fields.

Pay attention! You cannot change your username afterwards.

* denotes required fields.
avatar van Hannibal

Hannibal

  • 9358 messages
  • 3273 votes

A great film about the ruthless sex industry in the Philippines. Heartbreaking and poignant scenes, and leaving the theatre with a stomach ache.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van mrklm

mrklm

  • 11374 messages
  • 9897 votes

Eleven-year-old Ginto spends most of his days on the streets of Manila with his friend Jojo [John Michael Toling] while his sister Asia [Francesca Dela Cruz] works as a dancer and sex worker in a club where mostly wealthy tourists spend their money. Glue sniffing gives Ginto a glimpse of the 'Spout of Earthly Pleasure' and that tastes like more. Instead of begging for money, he wants to sell crystal meth. Meanwhile, a Dutch tourist [Benjamin Moen] is looking in vain for an online girlfriend and finds what he really wants in Manila's red light district. Ninety minutes of breathtaking filming, sharply edited and sublimely acted (especially by the young cast) is a razor-sharp dissection of the extreme differences between rich and poor in the Philippine capital, often strikingly shown in an impressive wide shot. But Knibbe and co-writer Roelof Jan Minneboo clearly did not know how the story should end and they ended with a slowly unfolding denouement that you could see coming long in advance and yet another rip-off of Truffaut's Le Quatre Cents Coups.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Drulko Vlaschjan

Drulko Vlaschjan

  • 489 messages
  • 427 votes

Wow, what a movie! It has everything, but it never becomes excessive. Children who are both criminal and drug addicted due to hopeless poverty, but are still children. Blossoming sexuality, friendship, grief, prostitution, inequality, pedophilia. And all of that is beautifully filmed, with a number of great trippy scenes (due to drugs and/or trauma).

Of course you saw it coming that both storylines would touch each other at some point, but that didn't bother me at all. The meeting between Grinto and Michael was extremely uncomfortable and horrible. It's great that the makers managed to portray Michael as a human being, not as a horrible monster. He himself will probably be the first to think that he should be punished for his actions, but you still feel for him.

Hopefully the film will find the large audience it deserves. Because those six votes currently on MM, that is of course far too few for this gem.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original