June 22, 2021
Iyam (Meg Imperial) was the granddaughter and heir apparent of her Lola Ingga (Lita Loresca), legendary maker of the best rice wine called tapuey in Adams, Ilocos Norte. Iyam was unable to move on from being left behind by her boyfriend two years ago, and this was negatively affecting the taste of her tapuey. Lola Ingga and her cousin Timo (Pio Balbuena) believed she needs a new lover to regain the passion needed for making the best tapuey.
In a resort in La Union, Iyam met a well-to-do Manila boy Syd (Arvic Tan), who had a mobile bar business with his best friend Joan (Andrew Muhlach). They met again when Syd and Joan ventured into Lola Ingga's store to taste her famous tapuey. Timo convinced Syd that it was their tradition that the tapuey-maker (in this case, Iyam) needed to be wooed so that she will be able to make the sweetest tapuey for them to buy. Syd took the challenge seriously.
After bringing us to Fukuoka, Japan in his last film "Steal," director Bona Fajardo now introduced us to the rustic charms of Adams, a small 5th class municipality in northern Ilocos Norte with a population of around 2,000 residents, located just adjacent to the more popular beach town Pagudpud. The scenic beauty of Iyam's favorite mountain lookout spot (as seen in the film's poster) was captured very well on screen. He also chose to highlight a beach resort in Bacnotan, La Union to show off its surfing and party culture.
Meg Imperial played it very seriously as Iyam, a girl still wallowing in bitterness about people who have left her behind in the past. Her leading man, newcomer Arvic Tan, had a good screen presence as rich boy Syd, but there were some scenes where he looked self-conscious. The other two young supporting actors Pio Balbuena and Andrew Muhlach looked more relaxed with their comedy scenes. However, it was Lita Loresca who stole her scenes with her naughty frankness and raunchy sense of humor as Lola Ingga.
The love story itself is quite simple, about a girl trying to move on and taking a risk in love after being abandoned by an ex. However, the film used an elaborate prank concocted as a device for Syd to court Iyam in "traditional" ways like chopping wood, which was rather absurd, but then hey, this was not a high-brow comedy after all. However, there was also a thoughtful scene where Iyam talked about privileged city folk and their condescending ideas about country folk and rural life, which provided a ironic contrast to the proceedings. 5/10.
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