December 11, 2023
Four young women were very close friends during their college days. They all had to work in side hustles (hence the title) to pay for their tuition fees. Hazel (Quinn Carrillo) pushed drugs on campus. Thea (Hershie de Leon) worked as an escort / prostitute. Class topnotcher Cheska (Angelica Cervantes) secretly worked as a topless maid. Sofia (Denise Esteban) had the most low-paying job among them, so she desperately needed another job.
Five years later, one of the four friends committed suicide. The three remaining women are doing much better in life -- one has become an attorney, another became the wife of a rising politician. while the third now owned a mansion. However, they had apparently gone their separate ways in less than favorable conditions. They were all holding deep grudges against each other because of the events of one unfortunate night.
This was another Vivamax film written by Quinn Carrillo, already her 7th. Like the previous ones, she also played one of the characters here, but this time, her role was not as minor as before, since Hazel was somehow the glue that held her group together. Her story that followed four college girlfriends over five years actually had potential. One can say it was reminiscent of "Moral" (1982), but alas director Jose Abdel Langit was no Marilou Diaz Abaya.
Carrillo lacked subtlety in her acting style. Her delivery of lines was always brash and loud, as were her gesticulations and eye. Awkward in her dramatic scenes, Cervantes needed more workshops to act without a constantly pained-looking face. De Leon was more relaxed in style than the others, but it was too relaxed to have any substance. Esteban was good in her drama scenes, but the lines she was delivering could have been better written.
The male characters were not any better. Marco Gomez was the relative veteran in the cast and had already played lead roles before, but his Alex was a predictably one-note bully and villain. Newcomer Calvin Reyes was given a big break here as Gabby, the "good boy" in Alex's gang who befriends the girls. However, his facial affect and line delivery were hopelessly flat and bored even in his most intense scenes, or his even his sex scenes. 3/10.
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