'UnMarry' Is a Surprisingly Breezy Drama On The Serious Business of Ending a Marriage

(SPOT.ph) UnMarry is framed with a YouTube-style video, with attorney Jackie (Eugene Domingo) explaining to the camera the step-by-step process of getting an annulment in the Philippines. It is the first indication that, in spite of the heavy subject matter, the film doesn’t intend on being much of a downer. It then introduces us to Celine (Angelica Panganiban) and Ivan (Zanjoe Marudo), who are both going through an annulment case, and are mistakenly booked at the same time at Jackie’s office. 

Celine seeks an annulment with her husband Stephen (Tom Rodriguez), who she says is emotionally abusive, and tries to control her life with his considerable wealth. Ivan, on the other hand, is challenging the annulment filed against him by his wife Maya (Solenn Heusaff), who says he’s been negligent as a father, his habits putting their child in danger. Celine and Ivan become friends as they face their cases together, supporting each other through all the drama, and despite the unusual circumstances of their meeting, developing something potentially more serious.

The romance angle of the movie is cute, and there’s ample chemistry between Panganiban and Marudo. But the film’s heart is clearly in the depiction of what it is to go through an annulment. The film starts out making it just feel ridiculous: an absurd process that exists because of the lack of a divorce law in the country. Atty. Jackie urges her clients to use more dramatic language in their affidavits, for example, making it seem as though at least part of the process is putting up a show for the court: something that won’t bore the judge and those in attendance.

But as the film moves forward, it does get serious about things, sketching out what it is to have to relive one’s trauma in front of others, and to have your own story cross-examined. It zeroes in on how confusing it might all get for the children involved, who might not fully understand the gravity of the proceedings, or what it is they’re supposed to say when put in front of the court. The film never loses its sense of humor, but Jeturian is the kind of filmmaker who has always been able to balance levity and emotional depth. There are moments that feel a little rocky, but the director navigates the tone with a pretty steady hand.

Perhaps key to all this is Panganiban, who walks that same line with incredible agility and grace. She plays Celine as a woman who’s lost her sense of self in her marriage, and is slowly relearning who she is. It’s been a while since the actress was seen on the big screen, and it’s great to have her back. She is the beating heart of the movie, navigating its complexities with bracing emotional accuracy. As a whole, this movie is filled with strong performances, with Marudo certainly holding up his end, and Shamaine Buencamino delivering big time when given her moment.

UnMarry is pretty breezy for a film that is so much about the end of things: about all the hurt that people can cause each other, maybe without even knowing, and how this leads to a dissolution of something once thought of as beautiful. It seems to recognize an absurdity that goes along with these painful recollections of a love gone bad: a weird quirk of systems that make this serious reckoning of human wrongs feel kind of silly as well. And there are points where that recognition doesn’t necessarily feel helpful, getting in the way of a substantial feeling that might have been better served with gravity. And yet, UnMarry often manages something remarkable, just landing these moments that grant us a greater understanding of what it truly means to need to be apart from someone, in a country that just doesn’t make it easy.

Rating: 4 stars.