Marking director Eduardo Roy Jr.'s second film on the online streaming giant, Netflix. “Pamilya Ordinaryo” shares the same provocativeness present in Roy's films.
Congruent to his other films, “Pamilya Ordinaryo” is also a favorite and a heavyweight in award shows. It won awards at the 12th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival including Best Picture, Best Director for Eduardo Roy Jr., Best Actress for Hasmine Killip, and Best Editing for Carlo Francisco Manatad. Similarly. Also, it bags nominations and wins from other award-giving bodies and film festivals such as Gawad Urian Awards, Hanoi International Film Festival, FAP Awards, and Star Awards for Movies.
"Pamilya Ordinaryo" stars Hasmine Killip and Ronwaldo Martin as Jane and Aries respectively. Two delinquent teenagers who resort to stealing to provide for themselves and their baby boy, Arjan. Conflict starts when a Samaritan named Ertha (Moira Lang) stole their baby. What follows is a tale of endless search that inadvertently reveals how marginalized and deprived impoverished people are.
As you might've guessed, “Pamilya Ordinaryo” is not an easy movie to sit through as it reveals too much about how messed-up society is. It's extraordinarily provocative and brave. It daringly paints the lurid images of reality that we often discount. It boldly drops harsh truths on how terrible life is for poor people in a third world country like the Philippines.
However, Roy's bleak depiction of poverty is compelling but it feels misguided. It portrays Jane and Aries as good-for-nothing, loud and dense people, who take out their frustrations by belittling each other. Moreover, the film ends too quickly and without proper resolution on the fate of the characters we followed. The obscure ending leaves nothing but questions on what does it suppose to represent. Was it meant to tell us that being poor is a trap with no exit? Is it meant to show us that hope is only for the rich?
For the record, I liked “Pamilya Ordinaryo,” as I find it brave and powerful. It managed to take a stand about some political and social issues the country is facing today even if it failed to expound further its ideologies. It helps that Killip and Martin gave out a convincing performance. The production design is also great, and the use of CCTV cameras is a clever artistic move as it invites realism. I think the movie managed to tell what it wants to tell about the situation faced by poor people, it just outdid some aspect of the story.
“Pamilya Ordinaryo” is a ‘must-watch’ for me. It might require you to muster an extraordinary amount of courage before watching it as it gets heavier as the narrative moves along but that's reality anyway. Isn’t a movie supposed to mirror reality, even if it’s ugly?
3/5
