Vivamax: Review of LANGITNGIT: The Rapture of Ruby Ruiz

October 9, 2023

Layla Lejandro (Manang Medina) got accepted to work at a firm whose office was far away from their house. To avoid the stress of daily commute, she decided to look for a room for rent in the vicinity. A janitor directed her to inquire at "The Spanish House," a big old house owned by Floresca "Flor" Aranda (Ms. Ruby Ruiz), a religious elderly retired school teacher, who now mainly sewed clothes for statues of saints in the churches. 

When she accepted the rental terms, Layla was shown around by Manay's hunchback housekeeper Doreng (Aurora Yumul). Manay lived with her 20-year old grandson Patricio "Popoy" (Itan Rosales) whom she wanted to be a priest. However, the young man would bring home his girlfriend Cheena (Zia Zamora) for nights of carnal pleasure. Just next door to his room, Layla could hear the titular creaking noises made by his bed all night long.

Being the Vivamax film that it is, there were more graphic nude and sex scenes than the story really needed.  While Popoy's bed scenes were necessary in the story, these did not really have to be too repetitive. It was not necessary to see Layla bathing using a dipper at her house or using a shower at the Aranda house, nor see her lusty supervisor Jeffrey (Mon Morales) having sex with a co-worker in the office bathroom -- but there they were.  

Manang Medina was not a conventional fair-skinned and voluptuous Vivamax siren, probably chosen to cater to Vivamax viewers who prefer a different type of female lead. This is her second lead role after "Lagaslas" (2023) (MY REVIEW), and she gets to show off more acting range here. Fortunately, this new one had a more substantive script by Byron Bryant and more aesthetic direction by Christopher Novabos. Let's see if there is going to be a third Manang Medina starrer by them to complete a trilogy. 

After a host of minor roles in several past Vivamax films, Itan Rosales finally gets his chance to be the lead stud. His Popoy had a big confrontation scene with his grandmother which betrayed the current limitations in his acting skills, but this would probably not be his last lead role. On the other hand, Mon Morales looks like he has the annoying sexual predator role down pat, though as of now, it is not clear yet if he can do much more.  

Aurora Yumul had been in movies since the 1980s, but this turn as Doreng may be the one that finally gets her noticed for her acting. On the surface, the character was written as a stereotypical trope of the blindly loyal sidekick, down to her hunched back, shades of Dr. Frankenstein's Igor. Yumul was able to imbue the role with some sense of humor and heart, and was even given a chance to tell her own story in the epilogue.  

Overall, this whole film was really an acting showcase for character actress Ruby Ruiz. Her breakthrough came when she won a Cinemalaya Best Supporting Acting award in "Ekstra" (2013), which then led to a Cinemalaya Best Actress award for "Iska" (2019). From prayerful fanatic to wrathful madonna, Ruiz as Manay Flor dominated this movie with a nuanced, creepy and totally psychotic performance that Kathy Bates herself would kill for. 6/10.