From Omeleto.
A woman considers a request.
PARTY FAVOR is used with permission from Yasmine Gomez. Learn more at http://yasminegomez.com.
Jen is on her way to a family event one afternoon. It’s her young nephew’s combined First Communion and birthday celebration, but Jen is nervous about attending. Her sister Helen is very strict and religious, while Jen has a more open and carefree lifestyle as an unmarried professional woman living in the city.
On her way inside, she runs into her teenage niece Lizzy, who is kissing her boyfriend goodbye. Inside the party, she’s confronted with relatives who ask why she isn’t married with kids yet, and she’s uncomfortable with Helen’s harsh parenting. But when her niece makes a special request of her, Jen confronts the tension between her traditional Filipino upbringing and her self-chosen values.
Directed and written by Yasmine Gomez, this perceptive and compelling short family drama focuses on the "black sheep" in a strict and traditional Filipino-American family, exploring generational, religious and cultural tension around sex and secrecy. Told from the perspective of someone who escaped from the fold, it charts how Jen finds herself embroiled in a delicate ethical and emotional situation, illuminating how strict religion shapes familial patterns that often perpetuate themselves in the future.
Shot with a sharp yet composed sense of observation, the storytelling introduces us to Jen on her own at a coffee shop, bidding a queer friend goodbye, talking to her boyfriend on the phone and expressing her regrets that she can’t see his band play that night because of her family event. The scene is brief, but it establishes Jen as a free independent woman with an urbane lifestyle. But Jen navigates a wary return to the family for an afternoon, her manner becomes more guarded. We can feel the effort it takes for her to stay polite, nonconfrontational and pleasant, even when she is asked about marriage or kids or watches Helen upbraid her daughter for wearing a cropped shirt and fake tattoo.
Three strong performances anchor the film and give it complexity and resonance, weaving together an interlocking tapestry of conflicts and commonalities. As Jen, actor Catherine Ricafort McCreary is watchful, intelligent and expressive. She’s initially an observer of the family, trying to stay out of her more domineering sister Helen, played by actor Kim Berrios Lin with spiky forcefulness, though she also hints at the judgment and shame that fuel her rigidity. As Lizzy, actor Sara Rahman effortlessly resonates with her "cool aunt," and the pair deftly telegraph an understanding bond and shared humor and free-spiritedness. Yet when Lizzy makes a difficult request of her aunt, Jen is forced to consider familial legacies and what role she plays in continuing or breaking them.
Well-written and steadily paced, PARTY FAVOR is smart and nuanced, with insights into Filipino culture, how religion shapes families and how shame and judgment in those families affect the next generation. Jen and Helen grew up in the same family but have made radically different choices in reaction to the same influences. The two sisters make two points on a triangle: rebellion and acquiescence as opposing forces and Lizzy as the apex with her future still ahead of her. When Jen makes her decision, she hints at how a past choice could have been avoided. But she also has Lizzy’s future in mind — hoping to change familial patterns that have been powerfully embedded for generations.
