PPP 2019: Joint Review of OPEN and CUDDLE WEATHER: Lusting for Life

September 15, 2019

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2019 has 10 films showing (7 official entries and 3 films in the Sandaan Showcase), running from September 13 to 19, 2019. I was only able to watch my first films today, the day of the awards night. I just went to watch what was available during the time I went to the mall this afternoon, and it just so happened to be these two films. Both of them had been rated B by the CEB so it should be okay. Then again, all the PPP official entries had at least been rated a B, so that pretty much evened things out. 

Based on the posters and trailers, these two films dealt with sexual relationships, and should seem to be for mature audiences only. It was surprising to note that they were both been generously rated as R-13 by the MTRCB. (Then again, the MTRCB also rated a film about transgenders trying to get women pregnant as PG!) Now that I have watched both these films, I conclude they should have been rated higher R-16 or even R-18. 

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1. OPEN

Director: Andoy Ranay
Production: T-Rex Entertainment and Black Sheep

Ethan (JC Santos) and Rome (Arci Munoz) had been in a romantic relationship for 14 years and had been living in together for a long time. Everyone around them, especially Rome herself, wondered why Ethan never proposed marriage after all this time. Instead, when he felt that their relationship was already going stale, Ethan suggested to Rome that they should make their relationship an open one, like the one his good friend Archie (Vance Larena) with his fiancee Monique (Ivana Alawi). 

It was hard to watch a person as self-centered and cruel as Ethan exists, manipulating the woman he supposedly loved to agree to an open relationship in the guise of injecting excitement into their union, when in fact it was only to legitimize his ulterior motive of having a sexual affair with his ultra-sexy senior co-worker Erika (played by a very game Ina Raymundo). As if she was not already foolish enough to be forced to agree to this questionable arrangement, Rome actually also forced herself to have sex with a random guy Sam ( a sneaky Micah Munoz) whom she met in a dance club. Did she really have to?

This film depicted a liberal type of modern relationship that allowed extraneous sexual affairs as long as both parties consented to it. I would think that that topic alone should already merit an R-18 rating. Are present morality codes already so lax and permissive so as to allow children as young as 13 to watch a film like this? The character of JC Santos was a very detestable person, and he deserved only one kind of ending. However, director Andoy Ranay took his sweet sadistic time getting to that inevitable conclusion with such a deliberately glacial pace of storytelling. It was truly unbearable to endure that toxicity so long, despite its attractive lead stars. 3/10.


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2. CUDDLE WEATHER

Director: Rod Marmol
Production: Project 8 corner San Joaquin Projects, Inc. and Regal Entertainment

Adela (Sue Ramirez) decided to go into a life of prostitution to help her mother get through their poverty. After 9 years of turning tricks, now earning a minimum of P10K per customer. Just when Adela decided she wanted to turn a new leaf in life, she met a newbie on the prostitution block Ram (RK Bagatsing), who called her his Sempai (or "mentor") and she allowed him to live in her condo as a cuddle buddy (with strict rules) and helped his get started towards a more lucrative career in the sex trade. 

Believe it or not, this a rom-com about prostitutes and their sordid lives, with various scenes of kinky sex (thankfully non-explicit) and a generous helping of sexually-charged language, gets rated a R-13. Times have indeed changed, and it seems that these matters are already allowable for early teens to go watch onscreen. Even if Sue Ramirez and RK Bagatsing were delightful to watch in their characters, it was impossible to ignore the fact that they were portraying hookers who ply sex for money, and thus was not fit for 13 year olds to watch, whatever MTRCB says. 

It is however wise that director Rod Marmol decides to pursue the story as a light-hearted romantic comedy about whores with a heart of gold. The saving grace of this film is really the performances and chemistry of Sue Ramirez (who bravely played against type in this one) and RK Bagatsing who both managed to come across as charming and likable. Alecks Bovick was also good as Adela's mother, while Dexter Doria and Dolly de Leon were funny as Ram's rich matron customers. Nino Muhlach played one of Adela's loyal customers while Mark Anthony Fernandez played a man from Adela's past. Overall, despite the lurid world it depicted and familiar topic, this turned out be to be quite a pleasant watch, thanks to its appealing lead stars. 6/10.