April 19, 2024
Written and Directed by: Jon Red
Gold (Gold Aceron) is going to be the best man at the wedding of his best friend Karl (Aerol Carmelo). While he was driving on a mountain road on his way to the stag party, his old beat-up car overheated and stalled. There was no phone or internet signal in the area, so Gold could not call for help. While we was walking around to ask for help, he saw a house. Living inside were a strange couple (Yda Manzano and Allan Paule) who would not let him go.
This has got to be the most bizarre Vivamax feature since its inception. The whole film was just one long roller-coaster nightmare for Gold while stuck in the house of a weirdo family. The titular stag party, which did not even really matter in the story. Interesting quirky scenes include Yda Manzano's recitation of a vulgar poem and Jaime Fabregas sharing his wisdom. The effort to be different and darkly comic is appreciated, even if did not really make too much sense. 4/10.
Directed by: Pancho Maniquis
Written by: Pancho Maniquis and Alex Blanco
Rian (Ataska) called it quits with her boyfriend Tim (Nathan Cajucom) when she accepted that he was gay. Xan (Dyessa Garcia) had just separated from her boyfriend Nato (Anthony Dabao) who has to leave indefinitely to take care of his ailing father. They planned to take a long road trip together to "find themselves." They bring along Xan's neighbor Lucas (Mhack Morales), who also feeling very miserable about something.
The premise about taking a road trip to do soul searching may sound very old hat, but this film actually turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Outside those distracting sex scenes and stilted acting of the supporting actors, the scenes where the three main characters were just driving around and talking with each other were actually good, especially with the easy, natural chemistry among the three main actors: Ataska, Dyessa and unexpectedly, even newcomer Mhack. 6/10
Directed by: Rember Gelera
Written by: Frederick Castro
Axel (Yuki Sakamoto) was a sex addict who enjoyed having sex with his partner in places where other people can catch them in the act. His current partner nurse Athena (Shiena Yu) could not stand this habit anymore, so she decided to break up with him. It did not take long for him to find a new girlfriend in Nica (Reina Castillo), even as his old girlfriend Jel (Ayra Salvador) still called him for virtual sessions.
This has got to be the lowest of the lowest in the whole history of Vivamax. At least in other Vivamax features, there's somehow an effort to craft a story, no matter how slim the plot. This one had absolutely no coherent story to tell -- just a series of unappealing sex scenes, meaningless conversations and overacting bad actors. Athena's worst scene was when she and her fellow nurse Francis (Seonwoo Kim) had a wild go at each other right there in their clinic when the doctor was away. This was downright trash. 1/5
Directed by Sid T. Pascua
Written by Sid T. Pascua and Quinn Carrillo
Club dancer Elsa (Rica Gonzales) has had enough of living in the house of her abusive auntie Mameng (Sue Prado) and her leech husband Bhong (AJ Oteyza). She went to La Union to live with her best friend Kakai (Audrey Avila). Elsa met delivery boy Eddy (Calvin Reyes), a friend of Kakai's boyfriend Fredo (Nathan Rojas). However one day, a vindictive previous dissatisfied customer Marc (Marco Gomez) showed up and harassed Elsa.
The story of a prostitute trying to escape her past has been told and retold in many Vivamax films before. By the time drugs entered the story, it was already quite clear where the direction of the plot was going. However, writer-director Pascua gave each of his four main characters a difficult moral dilemma to decide on, making the ending less predictable than we first thought. The setting of La Union was beautiful, the use of Ilocano lines added more grit, but the actors could've done better. 5/10.
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