September 9, 2023
Orphaned cousins Claudia (Tiffany Grey) and Dyosa (Apple Dy) lived together since their parents died. High school graduate Claudia had just accepted to a university in Manila, so she was applying for a scholarship from their mayor. Dyosa had suffered a frontal lobe trauma in her youth which caused her to lose her ability to speak, but she was able to develop a skill in sewing curtains from which they earned their daily bread.
One day, a travelling fair set up camp in the town proper, and that night, the two girls decided to go pay it a visit. They wanted to ride the ferris wheel but had no cash with them, but the barker there Diego (Aerol Carmelo) let them ride for free because he was attracted to Dyosa. The carnival's manager Rafael (Chester Grecia) took a fancy on Claudia, seduced her with gifts, then offered her a job as his main cashier.
Tiffany Grey had done better dramatic work in her previous films, but her acting was not at its best here as Claudia. It was probably not entirely her fault, but that was maybe the best she could do given the pathetic way her character was written. Claudia was supposedly this smart girl ready to go to college, yet here she was hopelessly naive, so easily swept off her feet by the first smooth-talking guy who paid attention to her.
This is the first feature film lead role for Apple Dy, and she did make a good first impression here, even stealing attention away from Grey with her graceful moves. Her role of a mute Dyosa is challenging and she portrayed her credibly, even if the medical aspect of this condition may be questionable. If her head trauma was serious enough to cause aphasia, she would likely have other neurologic deficits aside from that.
Rodante Y. Pajemna Jr. finally wrote and directed his own feature film for the first time after having worked in production and creative services of several Viva and Vivamax projects since 2016. His story and script here were pretty much typical Vivamax fare, from the secret pimping going on behind legit business, down to the incendiary and vindictive ending. It will probably be remembered for showing how "mermaid" Salve (Aria Bench) plied her side hustle. 4/10.
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