Happy Jail (2019– ) User Reviews

Surely won't waste your time

[fortwheny · 8/10 · 14 August 2019]

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.

Exceeded my expectations

[kassundruh · 8/10 · 15 September 2019]

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.

Weird

[ericozu · 6/10 · 25 August 2019]

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.

amazing....

[kntafetsos · 9/10 · 14 August 2019]

An rare opportunity to watch the lives of others, less privileged peoplle of this planet, and feel greatfull for the things we all take for granted. Breathtaking, refreashing, alerting. Well done Netfilx.

We Are All Just People

[reeceawah · 10/10 · 16 August 2019]

This show does an excellent job. Every week there seems to be some new monotonous jail based series, and yet the marketers did an amazing job on the name making it stand out from the dull pre existing collections. To the person giving this one star on the title alone... Ignorant decisions like that are most likely what got you incarcerated in the first place lololol.

This show is a real reminder that none of us are perfect, but it shows the tremendous affects small acts of love and compassion can have on each other, in what we usually consider a hostile environment. It shows the simple rights other people on this planet lack. One prisoner states his emotions in broken english "Its so painful inside. Why am i being made to suffer this? It really pains me.." he asks, while talking about his mental health. A guard also goes on to explain how much he truly loves his job and life in the environment they created. Yet at the end you find both people were murdered shortly after filming. Ironically, one of the deceased asks why bad things happen after all the good things they do. Meanwhile you're following the story of a young man claiming to be wrongly accused, while he faces the struggles of being locked away from his girlfriend and family in a broken system. While there are many more narratives to the series, these were the main ones that caught my eye.

It really is just a fascinating look into human love and care under tough conditions, and well worth the watch. As to why they chose not to provide subtitles for parts of the commentary i don't understand. I hope this show really encourages people to look at each other more compassionately. It really shows what a little love can do. It would be nice if they provided statistics on before and after all the implementations by Sir Marco. Hopefully Google will tell.

Fairly interesting

[cathmitchell-44705 · 5/10 · 14 August 2019]

Even though we are oversaturated with jail docs, this is still quite an interesting look at a unique jail in the Philippines. The slight down side is the lack of subtitles sometimes!

Awesomeness

[txsunlvr · 10/10 · 23 August 2019]

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

A Great Netflix Documentary

[royhectorkabanlit · 10/10 · 15 August 2019]

This is a fantastic documentary, one that you couldn't stop watching once you started, which is exactly what I did, finishing all five episodes in a single afternoon.

It is basically a documentary on Marco Toral's stint as head of Cebu's Jail which had the world-famous Dancing Inmates. It showed how Toral ran the Jail, the controversies and eventually the events which caused him to resign from his post.

Toral himself is a pretty interesting character, a rich kid from Cebu who got into the wrong side of the law but eventually found some redemption later.

Also featured are a bunch of interesting characters from the jail, their hopes, dreams and tragedies. Two of the characters though (I won't say which ones so as not to spoil it for others) was murdered later as confirmed in the last episode.

A very engaging and interesting documentary, one of Netflix's best.

very interesting

[sitalagmay · 9/10 · 18 August 2019]

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.