Synopsis
Sandwich is an erotic thriller drama film released in 2023 in the Philippines. It was directed by Jao Daniel Elamparo, and produced by Viva Films in collaboration with Vivamax Originals. The film portrays modern relationship issues in the context of a city preparing for a COVID-19 lockdown, delving into themes of lust, voyeurism, isolation, and the fragility of trust.
The story revolves around a newlyweds, Edward and Ria, living in a high-rise condominium in the city. Due to the upcoming COVID19 lockdown, they are bored, looking to spice up the relationship, and decide to invite a third party into their bedroom, a bold and unconventional move. They are joined by Candice, a confident and seductive woman, who participates in what is supposed to be a consensual threesome.
However, it becomes clear that everything is rapidly spiraling out of control. What initially emerged as an erotic endeavor deteriorates into chaos when a fourth person, who is brought in under dubious conditions, becomes part of the scenario. What they don’t realize is that their next-door neighbor Andrew has been voyeuristically spying on the couple with the use of surveillance cameras. Andrew, who is an illegal drug dealer, is a controllable and dangerous voyeur.
With the development of psychological unhinging of the characters, the steaming showers become a medieval crag from the stone age of the human lack of etiquette. Husband and wife, servants to fake images of themselves, become puppets of surged jealousy mixed with the rawа pasta of manipulations coated with the sauce of apathy. The notion of a lockdown for the Loomin city serves to stretch the already-string puppet strings of the characters’ decisions.
By the end, the characters are left questioning their morality, trust, sense of reality, and their beliefs, each crossing the undefined and ever-transcending borders of sensual pleasure and pain, willingness and violence, and closeness and dominion.
Cast and Characters
Katrina Dovey as Ria
Wife of the protagonist, Ria, is emotionally deep with a head of recognition for her role to cope to a certain degree of a saucy dynamic to their bond with a twirl in dads and head in the clouds in the childish motores of devastating affects behind the curtains.
Luke Selby as Edward
Sprinkling the joy in the relationship, Edward is an apparently curious husband whose lust for change masks tomb like insecurities and a controlling side.
Andrea Garcia as Candice
Shrugging her shoulders, Candice walks in glowing the blone of the twins together with marks of soot that serves as a transformation in the form of an erotic puppet clad in the smiling dangers of an emotionally tempestuous avalanche.
Nico Locco as Andrew
Added as additional cast, Andal as a lavish accomplist of both a drug dealer and a voyeuristic neighbor, Andrew increses the couple’s already fragmented situation. Film’s dengerous and psychologically disturbing layers of vortcinahism is attributed to his malevolent motives.
Chesca paredes, Millen Gal, Sahil Khan and Regine Tolentino appear in supporting roles depicting different condominium dwellers that passively shape the events, or serve as a prism illustrating the estrangement and moral decay of metropolis life during turmoil.
Direction and Production
Director Jao Daniel Elamparo has a coven of flamboyant greaser styling in his head which he pours on to sandwich’s visuals inked with sharp yet deeply disturbing tones. pyschegological and erotic elements take over the movie as the director with the use of intense frames, voyeuristic angles, and a slow burn pace, enhances the disturbing feeling of the film while keeping the viewer on the edge. Elamparo’s direction has been noted to lack coherence and rythm to some extent, almost feeling jarring to watch in the moments that used to flow.
Reynold giba’s unsleeshed screenplay combines eroticism with a critique on modern relations and the concept of space, or distance put between two poeple. Forgivable, some of the audiolines are immensely shallow, worsened by a pivot of the plot towards, diven and intimate matter, and the backdrop shifts to a supposed serious tone.
Jake Abella’s score for the film underscores the drama with moody music that matches the unfolding action. Along with Fred Cortez’s cinematography that showcases confined spaces and muted colors, the technical aspects portray the morally ambiguous and claustrophobic world the characters live in.
Themes and Tone
As with most short films, the main message is the consequence of an unchecked desire and emotional detachment. Sandy has some really interesting takes on voyeurism, both from the active and passive perspectives. The film critiques modern society’s penchant for voyeurism, judgment, and intrusion, where people and their lives are constantly being watched.
The pandemic setting is mostly superficial. The characters in the film don’t seem to be affected by the COVID pandemic. They don’t wear masks, and there’s no social distancing. The COVID threat feels more like a narrative tool than an actual thematic element of the film. Many viewers felt the film jumped into the lockdown premise without any real follow through, and that’s been cited as one of the main critiques.
The tone of Sandwich shifts from physically intimate to cold from warm to disorienting and disturbing, which creates a blend of grammatical disorientation. The characters’ moral haze and psychological spiral could have been the reasoning behind the disjointed flow, but it often results in narrative inconsistency.
Reception and Critique
Critics and audiences alike have offered negative to mediocre reviews. There are those who praise the visual execution. While the visual elements earned praise, the overall story received criticism on the lack of a coherent narrative, disturbing elements, and blatant exploitation.
The revolving door of criticism includes:
Inconsistent storytelling: The narrative often goes off track, bringing in side characters and shallow plot twists that lack the signified purpose.
Unnecessary violence: The film, particularly the second half, contains moments of coercion and sexual violence that come off as gratuitous.
Missed potential: The setup of sex, voyeurism, and pandemic anxiety offered a chance for a psychological deep-dive, but the film opts for eroticism over insight.
Weak character development: Katrina Dovey and Andrea Garcia deliver commendable performances, but the emotionally shallow writing and lack of backstory for the characters renders the audience disinterested.
Few viewers noted the film’s departure from formulaic storytelling, recognizing its indie, experimental tone. However, the overall sentiment is that the promise behind Sandwich is far more optimistic than its delivery.
Conclusion
Exceedingly bold in its attempts to push the envelope, Sandwich is visually and tonally ambitious, simultaneously erotic and psychologically thrilling. Though the film is far from captivating, its erotic appeal and voyeuristic intrigue may attract adult indie film enthusiasts.
The film’s deep exploration of sexual dynamics and taboo issues is its most notable strength. However, the lack of mature narrative scaffolding or emotional weight undermines Sandwich’s thematic ambition, rendering the film far more exasperating than illuminating. In the end, the film Sandwich exemplifies the need of compelling writing and direction behind groundbreaking ideas in order to resonate with audiences.
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