ANNE Curtis and Gerald Anderson find themselves in a brutal fight for survival in a dystopian Philippines in “BuyBust: The Undesirables,” a series that extends the world that was introduced in the hit 2018 film.
The first look of “BuyBust: The Undesirables”—set to be released on Netflix in 2026—was revealed by filmmaker Erik Matti at the 2025 Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF) Creative Asia in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Matti was joined by Indonesian film director Joko Anwar in revealing the project during the festival’s Creator-to-Creator session.
The upcoming nine-episode series showed glimpses of Curtis and Anderson’s characters, as well as Nour Hooshmand, Lotlot de Leon, Sarah Lahbati, and Eric Quizon.
Matti also explained that the series was conceptualized after he partnered with the streaming giant to expand the world of “BuyBust,” which also starred Curtis. While the film focused on the deadly effects of the drug war, the series is said to revolve around the desperation for survival in a dystopian world.
“We moved on from the drug war story and we made it about rich and poor—the powerful and the powerless. We wanted to talk about the Philippines as a country and whether it was impossible to ‘clean it up’ without going political. We are focusing on real characters and the real conflicts of each of them,” he said.
According to the series’ logline, the series tells the story of a “vengeful ex-cop and a haunted corporate outcast” in a manhunt for a drug lord named Judas. This brings them to the world of Matungao in hopes of unmasking the mysterious overlord’s identity.
“A vengeful ex-cop and a haunted corporate outcast are drawn together by the murder of a senator’s daughter and a citywide manhunt for the mysterious drug lord ‘Judas.’ Thrust from the Capital’s shadows into the anarchic exile zone of Matungao, they must survive betrayal, unmask the true Judas, and confront the cost of justice in a society where everyone is disposable,” Netflix said.
The 2018 film originally starred Curtis, Arjo Atayde, Brandon Vera, Victor Neri, and Nonie Buencamino. (Hannah Mallorca © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
