Malaya (Lovi Poe) was a communication arts graduate from Manila who just joined her mom and brother working as domestic helpers in Italy. One day, she met Iago (Zanjoe Marudo), a Filipino born in Italy determined to make a good life on his own. The two got close to each other in no time while working together, and fell in love. However, real life soon came into the picture and major decisions needed to be made.
Malaya felt bitter that her mother (played by Isay Alvarez) who left to work in Italy as a domestic worker. She was determined to not be a domestic helper when she herself was petitioned by her mother go to Italy. On the other hand, Iago had issues against his own absentee father (played by Robert Sena). He grew up with an Italian family who took him in as their own, hence his facility with the Italian language. He was also not content with minimum wage jobs. How will falling in love affect their ambitious natures?
Lovi Poe seems to be the go-to young actress to cast when the script requires the female lead to show a little skin and engage in sexy scenes, much like what she did in her last two films "The Annulment" (2019) and "Hindi Tayo Pwede" (2020). Her patrician beauty kept her always looking dignified and classy. As an actress, she was able to project sincerity effectively. This was even when the character of Malaya, who had difficulties moving on from bad experiences, did not seem to be her real-life personality.
Zanjoe Marudo worked hard on his Italian language and accent as his role required. This interesting character was actually quite a challenge on paper because of what it demands from its actor. Marudo did well in his portrayal, but you can't help but feel that there was still more that could have been done with Iago. His was the more unpredictable character and he was the one who was driving the story forward with his decisions, until Malaya made her own decision at the end.
This latest iWant original film followed the lead of local romance films focused on the life of Filipino workers abroad, like "Milan" (2004) and "Dubai" (2005), and more recently "Barcelona" (2016) and "Hello Love Goodbye" (2019). The story was set in the Puglia region of Italy, the heel part of the boot-shaped country. The picturesque nature views and charming town architecture were put into good use as the backdrop of this love story. The soundtrack with emo songs by Juan Karlos fit right into the film's anxious mood.
Director Connie Macatuno went back and forth in time to tell her story, which can be confusing with all the cards that indicated when the scenes were happening. As the film's title and the lead character's name would indicate, she stayed true to feminist themes she told and developed in her two other films, "Rome and Juliet" (2006) and the first iWant original film "Glorious" (2018). 6/10.
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