Alfa Oryol was a 37-year old single mother to a miserable albino teen boy named Luni. She was a documentary film director who was interviewing parents from the seaside town of Villa Norte about a series of mysterious disappearances of their firstborn children. One day while Alfa was out shooting another interview, Luni himself disappeared from their cottage. Witnesses reported seeing a mysterious woman in shades with him when they last saw him.
In the TV shows I had seen her in, Desiree del Valle always played a strong fearless woman, usually a villain. In this film, she again tackles a flawed character, an imperfect mother, but nevertheless still an independent woman with strong will and determination. She may look a bit young to be a mother of a teenager, but her performance as Alfa was quite natural, never overwrought, even in those scenes when her son Luni was already missing. Her role involved a lot of swimming so it must have been physically demanding for her.
Del Valle will also play another crucial character, named Beth. I guess you can already see the humor in the choice of names, and the writer did not deny the absurdity, as Luni pointed it out and asked if it was a joke. (The name of Alfa's sister was Charly, which also made me think of the military alphabet.) The nature of Beth's character was not well-fleshed out so I was not really satisfied with how this angle of the story ended.
Carl Palaganas played the boy Luni. (I was surprised to learn what Luni was short for, so I will not spoil that far-out detail for you.) It was a good effort for this young man, but admittedly, his inexperience as an actor was evident but you know he was trying his best. There were scenes when his eyes were not making contact with Desiree when they were talking which looked a bit off for me, unless the director meant it that way.
Writer-director Pam Miras has cooked up a neat little mystery in a small beach town and the sad fates that befell its residents, apparently in exchange for another big favor they were requesting the heavens. The fabled sea serpent, the Baconaua, also the subject of another indie shown in the recent Cinemalaya (MY REVIEW), was again brought up in this one, but with a twist that needed to be explained by a sociologist that Alfa interviewed. A good part of the film's exposition relied on narrations and interviews.
The titular Medusae referred to the adult form of the jellyfish. The jellyfish was repeatedly mentioned and shown throughout the film. The fisher folk in the area ate jellyfish ceviche as a roadside snack. Luni was shown with ugly welts in his arms and body caused by jellyfish stings. We also get a lesson about the the life cycle of the jellyfish. We hear the words budding, planula, ephyra and medusa. But honestly, I did not get the connection of this creature with the story of Alfa and Luni.
The non-linear combination of mystery, myth and misery was already good enough, but what was this scientific aspect about cnidarian reproduction really all about? I am sure that Miras had a good reason to include this, and in fact even name the entire movie with a term from it. Unfortunately, I still cannot figure out its precise significance up to now. 6/10.
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