A gritty psychological thriller, Cavite provides an incisive commentary on Islamic terrorism in the Philippines. For Filipino American Adam, life seems to have hit rock bottom: his job is boring, his pregnant girlfriend refuses to bear his child because he is a Muslim, and his father has just died in a horrific bus explosion in the Philippines. Heartbroken and disheveled, he arrives in Manila to discover that his mother and sister have been kidnapped by terrorists. Via cellphone, the kidnappers lead him on a treacherous cat-and-mouse journey through the overcrowded streets of Cavite, a backwater town stricken by poverty and violence. Faced with a life-or-death decision, he must confront not only the harsh realities of life in the Philippines, but also his identity as a Muslim, and his privilege as an American. Rather than appeal to our basest fears after 9/11, Cavite asks us to take a deeper look at our own, global responsibility.