Call Me Alma

Alma is a prostitute in Manilla in 1999 towards the new millennium. She has several regular clients. One evening she is approached by a woman that claims to be her mother but she initially pushes her aside. Later seeing her again though with symptoms of dementia. Together they search for her long lost father.

This has the standard Vivamax production nudity and sex scenes. Yet it also has an interesting and deep drama story to go with it. It does get sad at times.

The acting is very good. Jaclyn Jose who plays Sheila/Mother gives an amazing performance.

This is a very good drama although it could have used some light humor to lift the often saddened mood. Still worth watching.

Azi Acosta, is a high-end actress. She has decided that performing in Pinoy erotica is her profession, her life, her means to achieve her dreams and her happiness. She caters to all men, and possibly four of the 'Filipinas', who can afford Vivamax's price. She seems to be establishing herself as Vivamax's "S&M Queen". She has have long jet-black hair, she now has a certain amount of body fat (so restraints leave a skin impression), she can be graceful under torture, with strong facial expressions and here she look good in a kimono or kimono-style robe, thus fulfilling Oniroku Dan's criteria for a perfect actress. Azi's routine performance in this movie is disturbed when Jaclyn Jose, an ageing actress with a a painful past involving Ricky Lee's screenwriting, confronts Azi. This meeting will open the door to Azi's past that she has refused to confront. Her breasts are more prominent in the stomach-punching scene in this movie compared with the equivalent flat scene from Selina's Gold, released only ten months earlier, and truths that will test the values of these two women who have become victims of wealth and men. In the end, Azi and Jaclyn make acting choices that will define them not only as individuals but as women. This historical drama is set at the turn of the last millennium. It deals with working as a prostitute in Manilla during the first third, and attempting to cope with senility in Bataan, in the remaining two thirds. It is shorter than the usual Viva Films production, so it doesn't drag on as much, so if you like bold films with a bit of an S&M theme, it's worth watching.

Vivamax is a streaming service for Filipino-produced content and Call Me Alma falls under the "late-night content for adults" banner. Although I have seen a few Vivamax productions now, Call Me Alma is a slightly different movie to what I was initially expecting.

Alma is not what you'd typically expect from a working girl characterisation, she's very kind-hearted and even gives out the odd freebie to the less fortunate of her customers. When Alma's estranged mother turns up out of the blue, Alma needs to reassess her own life choices. The mother-daughter relationship changes the tone of the movie, and it quickly shifts from being an exploitation film to a rather sweet movie about reconnecting. Don't get me wrong, the movie is still very exploitative - only it seems like the movie is actually trying to tell a (heartbreaking) story.

Overall, I enjoyed Call Me Alma much more than many of the other Vivamax productions which I have recently seen. Call Me Alma also seems to be more accessible for a wider adult audience.