Himas

🧠 Overview of the Film

Directed by Christian Paolo Lat, the Filipino erotic drama Himas (2024) unfolds the tale of Dana (Sahara Bernales) who is torn between a husband she has to care for, and an intimacy she longs for. Dana is married to Ed (Felix Roco), a blind ex-firefighter who is an emotionally and physically intimate deadweight. To make matters worse, Dana is now emotionally and sexually frustrated. Things take a turn when he employs a young and energetic masseur Kokoy (MJ Abellera) for therapy sessions. To everyone’s surprise, an emotional and physical attachment starts forming between Kokoy and Dana.

Kokoy attends to assist and at the same time, he represents healing and temptation. He brings solace to Dana, and more dangerously, he ends up becoming the target of her emotional longings. Things become more complicated when Me-Ann (Zsara Laxamana), Ed’s ex-girlfriend, reappears to watch the slipstream of events and starts interfering. The story develops to show a clash of guilt, betrayal, and reawakened passions and demonstrates the effects of emotional and situational repression.

🎭 Discussion of Characters and Their Roles

Dana (Sahara Bernales)

Sahara’s range has strong moments as well as weak moments, and that is the same for Himas. Portrayed by Sahara Bernales, the character Dana brings to life is a woman who from the very first moments of the film is readily identifiable for audiences. Sahara’s take on the character deviates from the standard “damsel” in need of “rescue,” showcasing a formidable exterior and a mental struggle as she grapples with the dual responsibilities of caring for a gravely sick husband while simultaneously yearning to feel attractive and wanted.

Ed (Felix Roco)

As blind as he is, Roco’s portrayal of the deeply sorrowing and lost virility of a husband does capture deeply emotional sympathy. To some, however, Roco’s performance is described as exploitative and lacking depth and believability.

Kokoy (MJ Abellera)

Evoking empathy and quiet charm, Kokoy’s role as the quiet and caring masseur is simplistic and seems to serve only to fill the gaps of the narrative. Unfortunately, his performance has been argued to be lacking crucial layers of emotional and deeper gravitas, making it feel more flat and uninteresting.

Me-Ann (Zsara Laxamana)

Me-Ann’s character continues to feel underdeveloped yet provides the narrative some tension. Laxamana’s take on the character is understated and enigmatic, richening the emotional layers of the film as it progresses.

🎥 Themes and Tone

Untouched Physical Yearning

What happens physiologically to a husband within the scope of a marriage that is not physically close is what the film tries to answer. In the case of Dana, her yearning is more than just a physical void.

Intimacy Without Loyalty

The film strays towards Dana’s more accepted and sympathetic reasons which on the overall mood of the film are presented to answer more crucial questions, what does it mean to betray something close to you and to yourself.

Emotional Sabotage vs. Healing

The ethical issues of falling from the role of a caregiver to a lover are raised through Kokoy, as he drifts between the domains of therapeutic support into the padlocked door of emotional violation.

Isolation and Repression

The film illustrates the emotional isolation of the characters against the backdrop of a serene coastal town, depicting the sea’s vastness and the quiet of the home as a reflection of internal emptiness.

🎬 Cinematic Style and Atmosphere

The film has an aesthetically pleasing coastal gentle and golden color palette, accentuating the characters’ body language and silence-filled tension through the use of light and close-up framing. Christian Paolo Lat employs atmospheric techniques, embracing 1980s Filipino “bomba” film tropes through slow camera movements, pauses, and the use of symbols.

However, the film’s stylistic devices are overshadowed by the lack of depth in the narrative. The sparse dialogue and emotionally stagnant scenes drag on for no reason. The erotic scenes, which are sometimes the focus, feel unaligned with the overarching plot and character development.

⭐ Reception and Interpretation

Himas was a critical disaster, drawing harsh reviews for depicting an emotionally hollow story portraying undertone characters and uneven performances.

Ratings from the viewers were polarizing. While some applauded the film’s visual tone, and some the eroticism, story, tension, and clarity were all received poorly.

As a result of its erotic focus, the film was considered thematically ambitious, but the storytelling was insufficient for executing the core idea. Many viewers felt the film was unbalanced in its message.

📌 Important Notes for Viewers

• Himas is an experience that is more visual and sensual in nature as opposed to emotionally driven.
• The film betrays loneliness and repressed desire as themes, but only skims the surface of fully exploring them.
• This film is best enjoyed by those who tend to indulge in mood-driven erotica.

✅ Overall Review Himas (2024) attempts to create a sultry emotionally charged narrative exploring the themes of love, loss, and temptation. The film certainly achieves a sultry, emotionally charged narrative of love while visually and tonally it succeeds, but misses the psychological and emotional depth in the narrative. The visuals are stunning, but the narrative is shallow. This film visually succeeds in seducing the viewer while failing to tell a story that satisfies the viewer.