DOMME | Vivamax: Roman Perez Jr.
Title : Domme (2023)
Stars : Ava MendezAli AsistioMark Anthony Fernandez
Director : Roman Perez Jr.
Writers : John Carlo Pacala, Vicente Paolo Fernandez, Roman Perez Jr.
Synopsis : A man spies on his neighbors because of the noises they create every night. But he discovers that they do wild erotic practices. As he interferes with their business, the more he gets involved in their lives and their mess.
Cholo (Ali Asistio) has just moved to Manila to escape his overbearing mother. He works from his condo as a call center agent. However, he was greatly disturbed by the sound of someone grunting in agony coming from the room beside him. His neighbor is Raymond (Mark Anthony Fernandez), the head chef of a fine restaurant that serves exotic dishes. At work, he is a strict boss of his staff, a perfectionist in his craft.
Raymond's frequent visitor is a mysterious woman named Estelle (Ava Mendez). Upon further investigation, Cholo learns that Estelle is a dominatrix who provides sexual arousal to her masochistic clients through pain and humiliation. Tony (Marco Gomez) is Raymond's nephew. As his accountant, Tony noted that his uncle regularly transferred thousands of pesos to a single account, belonging to Estelle.
Ava Mendez has shown her acting talent in several Vivamax events before, beating out lead actresses in movies like "#DoYouThinkIAmSexy?" and "Larran". She's not as consistent here as Estelle. He's still good in his quiet scenes, but there are scenes that just seem odd or unnatural, like the one where he bangs on Cholo's door for the first time, or the spitting scene with Tony near the end.
Ali Asistio dropped his usual over-the-top acting style to play the nerdy Cholo, and it's a promising change of pace for him. Tony Marco Gomez is a practically unnecessary side character whose gambling debts we don't really care about. Hammy Mark Anthony Fernandez, the over-the-top line delivery is disastrous and amateurish for a veteran actor like him, simply lacks the class needed for his character - his worst performance ever.
