Vivamax: Review of X-DEAL 2: Exchange Encounters

March 25, 2022

The first "X-Deal" was a erotic drama film directed by Law Fajardo back in 2011. It was shot in a dark dingy apartment building, telling the relationship of Lomo photographer Billy (Jon Hall) and his actress girlfriend Sarah (Paloma) with their lesbian next-door neighbor Dana (Jamilla Obispo) who was a blogger. The titular x-deal was that Dana could have sex with Sarah, in return for Billy having a go with Dana.

The story of this second "X-Deal" is practically identical -- photographer Peter (Josef Elizalde) and his model-girlfriend Violet (Rob Guinto) went to this isolated resort for a photo shoot. The only other guest there was writer-vlogger Olivia (Angela Morena), coincidentally Peter's ex and who was now a lesbian. However, Fajardo had a much bigger, more luxurious and more scenic location this time -- the Tugawe Cove Resort in Caramoan, Camarines Sur. 

Of course, this scenario gave Fajardo the chance to stage as many intimate scenes of various combinations -- Peter and Violet first to show some trouble in their relationship, then Violet and Olivia in an alleged 3-hour long tryst, then Peter and Olivia in a rougher encounter reminiscent of the first film's ending. A random male homosexual scene was also thrown into the mix however unlikely, probably for the sake of inclusivity.

Certain details of the first film also appeared in this part two. The main male character was shown to be a mama's boy who received daily concerned phone calls from his mother. This was probably posited to try and explain his sexual inclinations and inadequacies, even more so in this sequel than the first. Drugs were also there, but less so in this new one than in the first one, which even had PDEA agents involved.

Fresh-faced Rob Guinto finally gets play the lead role here after a series of minor nymphet roles. From now on, no one will confuse that masculine-sounding name to be that of a male actor. Dusky beauty Angela Morena played a smart and confident free soul, so agreeing to set herself up like that for payback at the end did not seem too logical. Very fair, plus-sized (and very un-Jon Hall) Josef Elizalde was one convincing toxic male.  5/10.