Malamaya is ... Mediocre

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In this movie, we follow the life of jaded and lonely painter Nora Simeon (played by Sunshine Cruz), who enters a May-December romance with a much younger man named Migs (played by Enzo Pineda). As they both struggle to have a decent relationship, both soon realize that there is something missing in their almost exclusively physical relationship.

Malamaya is quite an oddity. Though I have to admit that the film is beautifully shot, with (dynamic colors here and there during its more "tender" moments, I have to say that I was not a huge fan of this film. As the credits rolled, there was only one adjective that could best describe mine and my classmates' moviegoing experience: "cold" (which is honestly more ironic when you realize that this is an adult movie).

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"Cold," as in there is literally nothing left for me to care about these characters. Though yes, I understand that like all artists who struggle to make it through the Philippine art scene, Nora is simply trying to maintain her legacy by not turning into a commercial pawn, most, if not all her interactions are character traits that are just ... unlikeable. She comes-off as condescending when it comes to her work, and she is so full of herself that she is literally "excited" at the touch of one of her paintings. (Ugh!)

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"Cold," as in the chemistry in this film is just ice cold. Though I do not fault both actors for doing their absolute best with what is given to them, the completely unrelatable and annoying character traits make their intimate moments a lot less enticing.

It also doesn't help that the movie adds absolutely nothing new to this type of story. So much that you can almost clearly see the end of the movie in just the first ten minutes. If their toxic attitude towards each other doesn't give it away, I don't know what will.

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I got to give props to this film's very brief yet insightful look at the art scene though. As mentioned, Malamaya offers a glimpse into the hardships faced by painters here in the country. What it does so uniquely is that it doesn't just discuss the financial difficulties in selling and crafting paintings, but the existential problem of "legacy," and what our painters think about whenever they craft something new. Alas, I just hope that the film could have connected with this theme a whole lot more.

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Overall, much like what the literal translation of Malamaya means (the color of ash), this film is ultimately a gray and quite dull story about complicated relationships, and its ultimately unlikeable characters only alienated audiences a whole lot more. If you don't believe that this film left an otherwise undesired reception, ask the other people who watched it with me. Props though for the cinematography.