Movie Review: The Unmarried Wife

Image courtesy of Instagram: starcinema

Main Cast:  Angelica Panganiban, Dingdong Dantes, Paulo Avelino

Director: Maryo J. De Los Reyes

MTRCB Rating: R 13

Released by : Star Cinema

After their beautiful wedding, Anne (Angelica Panganiban) and Geoff (Dingdong Dantes) are the picture of a happy couple in a loving and committed relationship ... until everything begins to crumble.

" The Unmarried Wife " is easily an Angel Panganiban movie, who portrays a career driven woman, while keeping a balance to maintain a happy home for her husband and son.  Turns out, her best isn’t good enough.  

Anne’s  idealism is put to a test when she finds out that Geoff has been cheating on her. But she chooses to turn a blind eye in the beginning, not wanting to compromise her reputation,  work and family.  

Anne’s situation gets more complicated as she gets drowned by the  demands from the workplace made even worse when she begins to entertain the romantic advances of Bryan (Paulo Avelino), who unbeknownst to her has domestic issues as well.  

The narratives in the film revolve around these conflicts, with some of the  scenes and dialogs already seen and uttered before in other movies with similar plots.  Yet there’s no denying that the lead actors in the movie are enough to pique the moviegoers’ interest in the film.

To be fair, Angelica did well, a testament to her multiple awards and citations from her earlier movies, notably – Santa Santita,  One More Try and That Thing Called Tadhana, among others.  However, " The Unmarried Wife " falls short in some aspects.  

The movie is unnecessarily long – all of two hours and ten minutes, often on redundant and lengthy dialogs. You just get bored and tired hearing the word  "sorry" uttered so many times within minutes apart.   

Yes, it is dragging at times, more so when you expect much from Dingdong’s performance yet you leave the cinema wanting more from him. Similarly,  Paulo isn’t any different either. His attack on his character as Anne’s obsessive lover borders on one that has a mental problem, his eyes and moves say it all. However, Denise Laurel and Maricar Reyes’ performances, albeit in cameo roles, impacted more.  

Thankfully, the musical score and Juris’ ’ Someday’ help save the day. Likewise, the support characters - Anne’s close friends and her company team providing the laughs and entertainment.  

The matter of marital infidelity and betrayal is serious business. It’s easy to think you will step out of the door once your spouse cheats on you, but when confronted with the reality of divorce or dissolving your marriage, the stakes are really high…more so in our double standard culture.  

Overcoming the devastation of betrayal is never easy, it isn’t. But it can be worked on. In fact, many a couple have decided to stay married after surviving the many storms in their marriage.

Has the film properly addressed the issue of infidelity? Find out for yourself.  

The Unmarried Wife also stars Dimples Romana, Irma Adlawan, Justin Cuyugan, Martin Escudero, Pamu Pamorada, now showing in cinemas.