Canlas was offered six pages of a young activist. He asked for the whole man, older years included. The reviews for “Edjop” suggest the production made the right call.

“Edjop” opened in Philippine cinemas on September 16, and the verdict from critics since has been close to unanimous: Elijah Canlas just delivered the best performance of his career. The Martial Law biopic, directed by Katski Flores, casts him as Edgar “Edjop” Jopson, the student leader who headed the National Union of Students of the Philippines during the 1970 First Quarter Storm, later organized against Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s martial law regime, and was killed by military forces in Davao in 1982. Rolling Stone Philippines called it “a much-needed film for a nation starting to forget.” Manila Bulletin framed its review around “the price of sacrifice.” His own brother didn’t hold back either.

The Six Pages He Wouldn’t Accept

Canlas wasn’t originally cast to carry the film. He was offered six pages — Edjop as a young student activist at Ateneo de Manila University, nothing past that. After he asked for and read the full script, he decided he wanted the character’s entire life, including the older Edjop the production hadn’t cast yet. “Hindi ako papayag na hindi ako si Edjop, kahit yung old Edjop,” he recalled telling them — roughly, that he wouldn’t accept playing anyone but the whole Edjop, old version included.

The production’s hesitation made sense on paper: Canlas was 23, playing a man in his 30s, while shooting a high school-set series at the same time. He pushed for a screen test anyway, done with makeup and prosthetics to age him up. Edjop’s real-life daughter, Joyette Jopson, watched from the sidelines during the audition. Canlas has said that after he finished his two test scenes, the team hugged him and told him the role was his. She stayed on set for the shoot that followed, a presence he’s described as a daily reminder of what the film owed the family whose history it was telling.

What the Reviews Are Actually Praising

Flores builds “Edjop” around a dual, non-linear structure rather than a conventional biopic timeline — cutting between Edgar’s activism and his daughter Joyette’s present-day struggle to live outside his shadow. Reviewers have singled out Canlas’s physical and emotional range across that structure, particularly in the film’s depictions of state torture, as evidence of an actor capturing Edgar’s evolution rather than performing a wax-museum version of him. The one consistent critical note is scale: several reviews felt the film’s depiction of the First Quarter Storm — the wave of student protests Edjop helped organize, involving tens of thousands of demonstrators — needed a stronger visual sense of that collective size. That critique sits squarely on the production side of the ledger, away from anything Canlas does on screen.

Jerom Canlas, Elijah’s older brother, posted his own review calling the performance “a masterclass in acting from start to finish” and “so grounded, yet full of gravitas,” adding that he wouldn’t hold back if he actually had criticism to offer. He ranked it alongside Elijah’s two other defining performances — “Kalel, 15,” the 2019 drama that won him Best Actor honors at the Gawad Urian, FAMAS, and the Asian Film Festival in Rome, and “Rumaragasa” (“Raging”), which took him to the Berlinale’s Panorama section in February 2026 — as the strongest work of his career.

A Pattern the Site Already Noticed

ElysPlanet flagged this pattern before “Edjop” even opened: Canlas has spent his career being cast as the ones who fight back, then showing up at real protests when the cameras stop rolling. The reviews landing now support that read. Canlas is still playing the same role he’s been building toward for years — just at its largest, most literal scale yet, in cinemas nationwide.

“Edjop” is now down to its holdout screens. On September 23, Flores announced the film has been extended for another week at three Metro Manila cinemas. Her post had a pointed reminder for anyone planning to weigh in on it: buy a ticket before you start judging.

“Edjop”: Directed by Katski Flores, starring Elijah Canlas as Edgar Jopson alongside Jodi Sta. Maria, Cedrick Juan, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, and Kakie Pangilinan. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Philippines. Extended as of September 23 at Gateway Cineplex in Araneta City, Cubao; Market! Market! in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig; and Robinsons Place Manila in Ermita.