What drives a man to search for the truth? In the case of Lt. Hermes Papauran, who is arguably the greatest Filipino investigator, when asked, he says dejectedly that maybe he just wants to keep inflicting pain on himself. With such an ambiguous statement, he may have provided the greatest answer to the proverbial question. To search for the truth is all about pain. Faced with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody murders and brazen lies, Lt. Papauran continues his struggle to find resolution to a fifteen-year-old case around a volcanic ash laden landscape and an impenetrable lake. It has become a cross he can barely carry but keeps lugging anyway. His survival then is in perpetuating the pain.
—Lav Diaz