It’s quite difficult to not compare Malamaya to Belle Douleur because both feature middle-aged women involved in a May-December affair.
And halfway through the movie another reason became evident: it was not as good as the other one. And that is a little bit disappointing because the movie could have been really good.
Sunshine Cruz makes a comeback as Nora, an uncompromising artist whose routine is about to be disrupted by a younger, more passionate photographer, Migs (Enzo Pineda). What started out as a one night stand blossomed into a love affair that saw both characters unravelling at certain points.
At first, it was a fun ride, with all the steamy sex and a few drama here and there. But it was purely superficial as there was nothing at stake for both characters. The tension was limited to their quarrels that were rooted from the most trivial things. If there was any significant character development, it was as blurry and distorted as the images Nora projects during her classes.
There was nothing to anchor the audience to the movie. It doesn’t seem like Nora was motivated by anything. Migs, on the other hand, had a more interesting backstory which meant he had clearer motivations. The problem is we didn’t see any of them pay off in the end. In fact, some of the subplots seemed murky by the movie’s end.
It’s not uncommon for movies to have open-ended conclusions but in this case, it left a lot of rooms for confusion. And I am still uncertain about what happened, days after seeing it.
If any, the movie does have some good shots. But that’s the extent of it. I wanted to like and rave for Malamaya, but I’m kinda lost in the dark.
