The Mistress

A year ago, No Other Woman was released and has generated a lot of revenues in the box office. Since then, it was hailed as one of the biggest blockbusters in Philippines until Praybeyt Benjamin usurped the position in just a matter of a month. This year, Star Cinema releases another film about infidelity, love and lust. It seems that the genre is a growing trend not only in the big screen but also in our own boob tube.

Sari (Bea Alonzo) is a seamstress-in-training under a moderately known maker of the best suits in town. Typical as she is, she happened to keep a secret which feeds her family three times a day. JD (John Lloyd Cruz) is a womanizer jumping from one sexual relationship to another, showing no signs of committing to a real relationship. JD meets Sari and eventually pursued her. Things get worse when JD has to compete with someone who is familiar with him.

I will not divulge any more of the plot of the film. That would defeat the purpose of you going to the theater and watching it. While Cruz and Alonzo's team up has been successful for the past ten years, this film proved that they indeed have that chemistry. Performance wise, Alonzo has been a versatile actress. This could be her most daring role to date. While John Lloyd looked exhausted during the entire film. Bea upstaged Cruz with this one delivering a very powerful performance as the mistress. The supporting cast did perfectly well which added to the flair of the film.

And though this may not be considered an artistic delivery of a simple plot, Olivia Lamasan was able to make the story as interesting as it should be. I admire that almost 70% of the film were not dubbed which provided even more realistic feel to the lines that were delivered. There were some poignant moments in the film. I liked how they started the film. There was this "Before Sunset" feel between the protagonists' first meeting at a bookstore. While the film tries to be daring in terms of the plot and story, it was still controlled, subdued and inhibited. There were a lot of oppurtunities for characterization and they have used every inch of it to make it effective.

The Mistress may be a good film but it is still well behind Cruz and Alonzo's One More Chance, plot-wise. The Mistress is a must-see. Great chemistry and rich story-telling that would not leave you like you were cheated on the price you pay for the ticket.

GRADE: B+

trailer

Tweet