Happy Jail

At first, i was skeptical of how they were going to keep this running for 5 episodes. But wow did they surprise me! The show had interesting subjects and unexpected action.

This doc is pretty much a mess, though it is entertaining at times. It gives you a very real look into how ridiculous the politics are in the Philippines and how people seem to fail upwards on the institutional ladders. The authorities, including the consultant, are incompetent (the actual warden of the jail seems like a half-wit) and their critics are insincere and probably corrupt. The doc itself found lots of ways to waste time as it was obvious they didn't get a whole lot of substance from the inmates. Still, the events in the doc are so weird and absurd that you actually come away enlightened in spite of a lack of actual insight on the part of the filmmakers. I don't think the creators really knew what they wanted to say here and it shows. Besides the wish-washy nature of the final product here, the only drawback may be a very real wasted opportunity to show how miserable and broken the "justice" system is in the Philippines. They made it out to be a gossipy party-center. I bet most prisons in that country are worse than a nightmare especially considering you can spend years there without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom.

Great narrative, pleasing cinematography, and lovely soundtrack. The documentary shows how life, especially in prison, is not just black and white but every color in between.

I saw movies showing jails but that cpdrc is different.... making me more curious about this and that... so I hope there'll be more episodes. The subtitles need an improvement and there is no English translation of their cebuano dialect.

This is a fantastic documentary. I think what the governor and the consultant are doing for the inmates is wonderful. I don't understand what the ex governors issue is. Happy inmates equals a better place for all concerned