The Nightcrawlers

National Geographic
The Nightcrawlers

Synopsis

An unflinching, verite-style expose, "The Nightcrawlers" follows a determined group of photojournalists on their mission to chronicle the deadly battle being waged against the Philippines' drug epidemic - and the tragic cost of this brutal crusade. Directed with pulse-pounding intensity by first-time director Alexander A. Mora, the documentary trails Raffy Lerma, a former staff photographer for a prominent newspaper, as he joins forces with a team of bold freelance photojournalists, or "nightcrawlers," who are covering a wave of extrajudicial killings that, by some estimates, has claimed as many as 27,000 lives. With unprecedented access the film also features shocking interviews with members of a mysterious death squad that prowls the city's back alleys in search of people they are paid to kill with impunity.