January 6, 2023
Sonya (Angela Morena), Ester (Stephanie Raz) and Lea (Micaella Raz) are sisters who lived in Rosario town. Their father Don Fidel Paraiso (Soliman Cruz) had just passed away. However, his land titles have pending cases, so the girls could not yet get their inheritances. Sonya needed money to continue her medical studies. Ester wanted to leave their town right away to go seek her fortune in Manila. Lea was satisfied just to stay in their father's house.
One night, a stranger showed up at their door, wounded with a bullet in his thigh. The girls took pity on the young man Felipe (Kiko Estrada), took him into their home and cared for him. Ester first showed her interest for Felipe, but he had his eye on Lea. Meanwhile, Sonya had secret trysts with Mako (Benz Sangalang), a soldier going after rebels in their town. Soon, several bad incidents happened in the house, pitting the sisters against each other.
Vivamax scored an interesting casting coup in this film by casting three real-life sisters -- Angela Morena, Stephanie Raz and Micaella Raz -- as the three Paraiso sisters. Their gentler facial beauty had already given lead roles to Angela ("X-Deal 2," "Tubero") and Micaella ("Bata Pa Si Sabel"). The stronger, sterner facial features of Stephanie makes her more fit for character or antagonist roles, like the aggressive sister Ester, who stood out in this film.
Kiko Estrada had an auspicious Vivamax debut in "Sitio Diablo" but his next two films ("Us x Her" and "Laruan") were not good. He was given much better role here as Felipe, but his performance was initially marred by that very ugly, very fake-looking beard he had on (which thankfully disappeared later in the film). Benz Sangalang was also electric in "Sitio Diablo," but here, his bad guy Mako was way too over-the-top to be taken seriously.
The most notable technical merit of this Iar Arondaing film was its cinematography (by DP Emmanuel Rei Liwanag), with the sepia filter, unique camera angles and lighting design, that gave the film a generally rich and warm look. The script by Nigel Santos had some revelations about Felipe's character, but these were not exactly unexpected. More care could have been taken in the storytelling of those parts to make the revelations more surprising. 5/10.
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