September 16, 2022
Patricia (Janelle Tee) had been confined in their big house while recovering from a miscarriage. Her Orthopedic surgeon husband Roy (Raymond Bagatsing) had been working overtime at the hospital, and was always tired when he came home. Patricia found herself initiating intimate moments, only to be ignored. She felt very neglected and depressed.
One day, Patricia discovered that with her binoculars she could see into bedroom window of her neighbor Chrissy (Ava Mendez) from her kitchen window. Crissy would have different men there with her every night, engaged in various sexual activities, and Patricia would just watch and join in vicariously. One night, Patricia saw Roy in Crissy's room.
In "Putahe" and "Secrets," Janelle Tee was given challenging characters to play. While she was fearless in the sexy scene department, she still lacked the maturity and the skill to nail the dramatic aspects of her character. But here in the title role of "The Escort Wife," Tee finally gives a performance of bitterness, depression and vengeance that deserves praise.
Ava Mendez already made a positive impression in her last film "#DoYouThinkIAmSexy?" even if she stayed completely clothed. Here she showed off more of her feminine wiles, as a prostitute who kept notes about her tricks in a journal as leverage. Mendez showed a relaxed and natural range in acting that did not feel forced or tacky.
Even he is the veteran in the cast, Raymond Bagatsing was rather one note here as Dr. Roy, playing it predictably as the cold, neglectful, insensitive and unapologetic husband. To be fair, his role as an unfaithful husband was not given any significant arc to develop by writer Yam Laranas, just staying true to its lousy stereotype.
Paul Basinillo is more known as concert director for artists and this is only his second feature. He was able to show off skills in creating some beautifully blocked shots of his actors and the locations. The way he was telling the story, I was hoping for an unconventional ending. But alas, it still stuck with the typical Vivamax violent ending which was unfortunate. 6/10.
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