My Neighbor the Gangster

Short Synopsis

It's 1981 and a 10-year old boy named Jose lives along the Parañaque-Cavite coastline along Manila Bay, before Coastal Road was reclaimed. He lives with his mother Candy and her occasionally present boyfriend Ray. It's a hard life and they're poor, living in the house they could still afford before Jose's father died, and Ray is often abusive to mother and son.

But everything changes when the real-life gangster Don Pepe Oyson moves his mistress Martina and illegitimate daughter Johanna in next door. Jose is immediately entranced with the family, and they take a liking to Jose and Candy as well, inviting them over and introducing them to the finer things in life. Jose and Johanna form a connection, not quite romantic, but they connect with each other as only children can. Don Pepe warns Ray not to hurt the family anymore or face dire consequences. As the relationships between the neighbors blossom and the power dynamic between Jose, Candy and Ray shifts, Ray decides that he wants to benefit from the connection as well, angling the crime lord for a job in his organization. When Ray's anger and addiction get out of control, Don Pepe handles it, supposedly offering him a job. All the mother and son know is that they never see Ray again. At the end of the film, violence erupts and the families are parted, and all Jose has is the memory of that summer that he became friends with a gangster.