It may not seem like the most obvious choice for a Christmas movie – a brutal action film with a protagonist traumatized by a failed mission in the jungle – but Triggered (Topakk) is one of the ten films selected for this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) and is opening across the Philippines on December 25. 

Starring Arjo Atayde and Julia Montes, the Tagalog-language film had its world premiere at Locarno film festival in 2023 and has been touring other festivals over the past year. Atayde plays a former special forces operative, now working as a security guard and struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), who tries to save a woman being pursued by corrupt police and a vicious drugs cartel. 

“Filipino families tend to go out together over the holidays, but I guess this is one for the dads and their sons, while the mums and daughters go to watch a romcom,” Atayde grins as he sits down to discuss with film with Deadline. “It’s a really out-of-the-box action film for the Philippines, at least these days. We’re no longer known for our martial arts, but this film has really been inspired by our director’s love of 1980s action movies.” 

Richard Somes, director and co-writer of the film, has made a name with both action and horror movies, but wanted to resurrect the heyday of Filipino action cinema in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when hard-boiled heroes such as Eddie Garcia and Fernando Poe Jr were the country’s biggest stars. Although the action genre was once huge in the Philippines, producers started to focus on romantic comedies in the early 2000s, so ever since, local audiences wanting their action fix had to look towards Hollywood or Hong Kong.  

“It’s been romcoms all the way for quite some time now – not many producers are interested in action,” says Atayde. “Of course, they’re much more expensive to make and budget is definitely a big factor here in the Philippines.” 

Known for his roles in crime drama series including Bagman and Cattleya Killer, Atayde is a member of a famous acting family that launched Nathan Studios in 2020 to explore different styles and genres of films in the Filipino film industry. 

The company, headed by Atayde’s mother Sylvia Sanchez-Atayde and sister Ria Atayde, came on board Triggered as a producer alongside Will Fredo’s Fusee and Somes’ Strawdogs Studio Production. Canada’s Raven Banner Entertainment also joined as co-producer and to handle international sales. 

The film has sold to multiple territories including German-speaking (Lighthouse), Italy (Blue Swan), Scandinavia (Njuta), Australia & New Zealand (Disruptor), South Korea (Aud), India (Superfine Films) and CIS (Kinologistika). A North American theatrical deal is also in the works. 

“We founded Nathan Studios because we’re all actors and we’re always talking between ourselves about the kinds of stories we want to see,” Atayde explains. “Eventually we realized there are things we’d just have to do ourselves if we wanted them to happen.”

Although he’s made a few romcoms, Atayde has not taken a conventional route as an actor in the Philippines. In addition to playing a governor’s henchman in Bagman and a special agent in Cattleya Killer, his previous roles include a violent, pock-marked gang boss in Erik Matti’s Buybust. “For me personally, I just want to try things I haven’t done before,” he says. “We get boxed in a lot in this country; leading man, villain, but I don’t want to repeat a role. My rule as an actor is to grow, to explore and to know what my limitations are.” 

To prepare for Triggered, Atayde not only had to undergo extensive martial arts and fight training but also work with a psychiatrist and former soldiers to understand the impact of PTSD. “We watched a lot of videos showing different cases and levels of the condition. I didn’t want to represent this the wrong way,” he says. 

“We don’t have high levels of awareness about mental health issues in the Philippines,” he continues. “We’re slowly getting better, but the older generation grew up in different times, different circumstances, and still believes you shouldn’t talk about your feelings or mental health struggles. Movies like this is one of the best ways to raise awareness.” 

Atayde also aims to raise awareness of these issues through his other role in life – that as a politician. He has served as the representative for Quezon City’s 1st District since he was elected to the role in 2022. He was also involved in drafting the Eddie Garcia Law, which aims to improve the welfare of artists in the Philippines film industry both in front of and behind the camera. The bill is named after the late star, who died in 2019 after tripping on loose cables while shooting a TV series. 

The cast and crew of Triggered had extensive training before shooting began to ensure everyone was safe, although a few bumps and bruises are inevitable when making an action movie. Atayde is also keen to give credit to his female co-star, Montes, who was also put through her paces in both the shooting and the preparation. Her character, a woman attempting to protect her younger brother from the drug cartel, is far from a defenseless victim and can lay claim to the film’s most disturbing scene when she dispatches a villain in the most efficient way. 

Although Montes couldn’t join Deadline in person while we were in Manila, she spoke to us later about her motivation for taking on the role and her rigorous training. “I’ve always been a fighter and a champion for causes to protect women and children, so this character really resonated with me,” she says. “It was a very physical and challenging shoot but also refreshing because of how heavily I was involved in creating my character. I wanted it to be believable, so I did the stunts myself with the help of our stunt master and our director.”

Somes worked with Erwin Tagle, a professional MMA fighter, on the action sequences, including an extended fight scene at the end of the movie in which Atayde and Montes’ characters take on the ultimate bad guy in the pouring rain. The scene took three days to shoot, during which the production was blessed with a real-life rainstorm, that provided atmosphere, but also chilled the cast and crew to the bone. 

“Erwin has worked on films and a lot of TV, but I think this is the first time he’d been given so much freedom, because him and our director have a great working relationship and try out everything together,” Atayde says. “It you’ve even seen Direk Richard on set, he’s the one running around screaming and throwing blood everywhere. He’s a very passionate and hands-on director.” 

Atayde’s upcoming projects include a third season of Bagman with ABS-CBN, this time at a higher budget level, and noir crime thriller Moonglow opposite Isabel Sandoval. He’s also working with Nathan Studios on the development of a superhero film: “It will represent one of the few martial arts that the Philippines is known for, which is Arnis or stick fighting,” he explains.

Nathan Studios is also becoming more involved in international co-production – working with Japan’s Loaded Films and Singapore’s Momo Film Co on various projects, and occasionally buys international titles, such as Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster, to release in the Philippines. 

Atayde says this is all part of a push for Philippine cinema to have a wider international reach. “When I was travelling with Triggered, I realized our cinema doesn’t have a brand outside the country, and while action and romcoms are great, I believe we should also try drama,” he says. “We could aim for something at the level of [Korea Oscar-winner] Parasite. We’re very sensitive and family-oriented as a people, so I’m sure there any many stories we could bring to the world.”