July 1, 2022
When she was told she was adopted, Violet Abrogar (Angelica Cervantes) went to look for her birth mother. Together with her boyfriend William (Vance Larena), Violet went to Novoleta, Cavite to meet Nanay Tess (Maureen Mauricio) who earned a living by drying fish. Violet also got to meet her elder sister Samantha (Quinn Carillo), who worked as a police asset under officer Erwin de Leon (Albie Casino).
Violet had been adopted by wealthy childless couple Antonio (Jim Pebanco) and Dina (Melissa Mendez) Abrogar when she was still an infant. As the years went by, Antonio turned out to be a cruel and violent husband and father, physically abusing his wife and sexually abusing his daughter. He gained his wealth by dealing in illegal drugs, protecting his business by paying off police chief Salinas (Tom Olivar).
The provocative title was just there for shock value, but did not refer to anything in the plot at all. The plot was just a mishmash of various melodramatic tropes of adoption and domestic abuse. The crime aspect involving drug dealing and crooked cops was already a very tired, done to death angle in many Filipino films, especially recently. Of course, being a Vivamax film, there were randomly-inserted, gratuitous sex scenes.
Angelica Cervantes's Violet may have been a hapless victim of sexual abuse, but her sex drive has not at all abated. Dusky Quinn Carillo's Sam was the tomboyish sister with the ugly Mohawk hairdo, skanky clothes and fearless guts. Albie Casino has done roles like his Erwin before, there was nothing new nor surprising about it. Vance Larena was totally wasted as Violet's escort and lover, doing nothing consequential, even forgotten at the end.
Jim Pebanco was always over-the-top as a one-dimensional monster Antonio. Good thing that we are spared to see how he abused Violet in the bedroom. Melissa Mendez had such a weak lifeless screen presence, which made her pathetic lines sound worse than they are. Director Joel Lamangan made the Abrogar family pray the rosary together, another trite and predictable detail that did not help the film in any way. 1/10.
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