Vivamax: Review of ISLAND OF DESIRE: Erratic Execution

April 1, 2022

Martha de Jesus (Christine Bermas) had just given birth to a stillborn baby girl and was very depressed. Her husband Carlo (Rash Flores) had been cold to her and was fooling around with his mistress. Her mother Lourdes (Tabs Sumulong) had dementia, did not recognize her and kept on looking for her missing sister Aurora (Sheree Bautista). After consulting with her psychiatrist Dr. Rose Yulo (Andrea del Rosario), Martha and Carlo got into a car accident.

The scene shifted to a rural hospital in Nilapakan town. Martha was the new nurse assigned by the Regional Health Unit Office to bring a suitcase full of medicine for indigenous people to the health center of Isla Bato. She was brought to the island by boatman Rolly (Massimo Scofield). She hitched a ride on the motorcycle driven by Leloy (Sean de Guzman) to reach the clinic where she was met by the midwife Tess (Jela Cuenca).

This latest film by the prolific veteran director Joel Lamangan straddled the worlds of painful reality and nightmarish fantasy between life and death. Religion is very much part of the story. There was an ardent preacher (Rolly Innocencio) on the bus Martha rode on the way to Nilapakan. On Isla Bato itself, there was a fanatical cult practicing disturbing baptismal, healing and funeral rituals led by their crazed Ama (Jim Pebanco). 

The story was there but the execution did not deliver. It only ran 1-1/2 hours long, yet the pace felt plodding. The scenes were unnecessarily prolonged and were peppered with awkward lines of dialog . For example, Martha still had to ask the bus conductor where the hospital was when she was dropped off right in front of the hospital. Martha also had to ask Leloy if he was sure he brought her to the clinic when it was clearly written there above the clinic door. 

It was unfortunate that Bermas could not rise above the mire of this film, with all its problematic production design, costume and hairstyle choices, not to mention all the medical inaccuracies. Cuenca and de Guzman looked very bored. Flores was notably wooden.  The sex scenes here were unimaginatively shot and looked unflattering for the actors. These were not really necessary and felt forced into the story for the sake of the Vivamax brand. I only saw an island, but no desire. 2/10.