Ang Babaeng Walang Pakiramdam

Ang Babaeng Walang Pakiramdam
Ang Babaeng Walang Pakiramdam
Directed by	Darryl Yap
Written by	Darryl Yap
Produced by	Vincent del Rosario III; Veronique del Rosario-Corpus;
Starring	Kim Molina
Cinematography	Rain Yamson
Edited by	Vincent Asis; Noah Tonga; Nelson Villamayor;
Music by	Emerzon Texon
Production; companies	Viva Films; VinCentiments;
Distributed by	Viva Films
Release date	June 11, 2021;
Running time	83 minutes
Country	Philippines
Language	Filipino

Ang Babaeng Walang Pakiramdam (lit. 'The Woman Who Cannot Feel') is a 2021 Philippine comedy film written and directed by Darryl Yap. It starring Kim Molina as the title role. It premiered on June 11, 2021, through Viva Entertainment's online streaming platform Vivamax.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Plot edit

Anastacia “Tasha” Quingquing is a woman diagnosed with Congenital Insensitivity to Pain, a rare congenital disease that makes her incapable of feeling physical pain and pleasure.^[5] She works in a pharmaceutical company and asks her friends, Eric and Au, to go to a vacation but they have a lot of excuses that make them unavailable for the vacation. After a party with her friends, Tasha stumbles upon a small store operated by a vendor woman or Tindera. While the Tindera and Tasha are talking, a man with a cleft palate named Ngongo tries to buy an item from the store. Since both the Tindera and Tasha cannot clearly understand Ngongo, he tries to sing the alphabet song to spell the item he wants to buy. The Tindera says this has always been their form of communication when she cannot understand him.

When Ngongo leaves the store, the Tindera mentions to Tasha that Ngongo’s father died of cancer and he also has a sister in Bohol that has cancer. Ngongo has always wanted to go back to Bohol to visit his sister but he was recently fired from his job in a call center company due to his condition. Realizing that they both want to go to Bohol, Tasha enlists Ngongo to accompany her in an all-expense paid vacation because Bohol is included in her itinerary. The duo goes to Enchanted Kingdom in Laguna, Bohol, and Pampanga, trying risky activities such as thrill rides, bungee jumping, and ultralight flying. Even though the activities are very thrilling, Tasha shows no emotion all throughout the vacation. Even when she suffers injuries, she does not notice them.

During their vacation, they both learn more about each other. Tasha does not feel physical pain or pleasure because of her rare condition. She also does not feel or react emotionally because of her upbringing. Her mother always tells her that showing emotion is weakness and forbids her from crying. Tasha also learns more about Ngongo’s family and the wishes he made when he was little. Ngongo wished he would die when he was younger because his parents felt helpless when kids would bully him due to his condition. Tasha realized that her mother did not want to see her sad because she loves her, which is the main reason why her mother stopped her from showing emotion.

Before their vacation ended, Ngongo tries to tell Tasha how he feels about her. He communicates with her like how he did the first night they met. Ngongo sings the alphabet song to spell, “I LOVE U,” but before he reaches the last letter, Tasha rejects him. On the way back to the city, Ngongo tells Tasha that her condition does not matter to him and he still wants to give their relationship a try. Tasha ignores him, stating that she still does not feel anything. During their conversation, they stumble upon a housefire. Tasha rushes out of the car and enters the burning house to save the child inside, since she does not feel pain from the heat or the fire. She faints after saving the child and was immediately rushed to the doctor. Despite of her insistence that she is okay, the doctor tells her that she needs immediate operation as her condition wears down her body since she cannot tell when she is in pain.

Tasha talks to her friends, Eric and Au, to inform them that she decided to undergo the operation. She remembers all her memories with Ngongo and, with the help of her friends, realizes that she must talk to him and give them a try. Tasha, Eric, and Au go to the Tindera who tells them that Ngongo will ride a train this afternoon to go to Bicol and permanently live there. The trio rushes to the train station to stop Ngongo but as Tasha chases him, she nearly gets to Ngongo but eventually misses him as the train leaves. For the first time, Tasha begins to scream his name and display emotions. She feels all the emotions that she suppressed in her life, coming back to her all at once. Tasha happily smiles when she realizes that there are tears on her face, knowing that she can finally feel emotions. Overwhelmed with the amount of emotions (and possibly pain from her injuries), her body goes into shock and she faints.

Sometime later, Ngongo visits Tasha's grave. She died due to her condition. He begins to cry as Tasha narrates that she was happy to at least feel like a person again. On her grave, she left a marking of the letter “U,” signaling her response to Ngongo, that she loves him, too.

Cast edit

Kim Molina as Anastacia Quingquing
Jerald Napoles as Ngongo
Candy Pangilinan as Tindera
Chad Kinis as Eric
Petite as Au
Tetchie Agbayani as Anastacia's mother
Cai Cortez as Dra. Bueno
Billy Jake Cortez as Boss
Jade Gutierrez as Nita
Jeanie Lisa Tan as Kambal na Tiyahin
Jeanie Faye Tan-Paronda as Kambal na Tiyahin
Aileen Cuevas as Nanay

Reception edit

Mario Dumaual of ABS-CBN News describes the film as "a comedic milestone for the Molina and Napoles", stating that they both "have perfect chemistry and comedic timing" in several hilarious scenes. He also praises Kim for portraying an indifferent character despite the struggles and Jerald for eclipsing Kim's character in parts of the movie.^[6]