Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story (2021)
Continuing Avid Liongoren's career of rather raunchy projects, the animated Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story feels almost like a spiritual sequel to Netflix's Bojack Horseman as it focuses on a cast of animals living everyday human life and trying to balance romance with the everyday fear and struggles that individuals face. Screening as part of the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival, the film follows a young cat named Nimfa Dimaano (Angelica Panganiban) who is starting to grow bored with her current boyfriend Roger (Robin Padilla). While the two might connect physically, they simply feel like two different souls ultimately leaving each other unfulfilled deep down. When Nimfa meets the rich playboy Iñigo (Sam Milby), it is love at first sight and she has to decide what path she wants to take. While the comparison to Bojack Horseman might play nicely when it comes to concept, the film's identity feels far messier in execution.
The first thing that demands to be pointed out within the film is what it actually is trying to be. This inquiry of identity is traditionally an easy question for a film to answer but with Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story, it isn't so simple. On one hand, the film feels like a raw look into the everyday working-class life with every struggle or highlight that can bring. From economic issues that Nimfa is dealing with specifically in trying to help her sister pay for school to the complexities of communicating within relationships, there is plenty within the feature for young adults to resonate with and find power in. The x-factor however is that the film is simultaneously trying to be a parody of the soap opera genre. With exaggerated visuals and cheesy dialogue, the film clearly is trying to poke fun at this genre which goes completely against the other half of the film when it comes to impact and style. These two sides of the film are at constant war with each other leading to a confusing and ultimately stunted final feature. Even the world itself feels confused as the clearly fictional world of talking animals will make strange mentions of Elon Musk and other relevant random pieces of modern society that works only to date the film and distract the audience.
The film itself also generally fails as a parody. While there are some legitimately funny moments especially within the animation, it serves more as an exaggeration of the genre with little of poignance being said about the genre to actually create a parody at its fundamental purpose. Instead, the film doubles down on some of the worst traits the genre can offer specifically when it comes to the morality of characters and relationships. The cliche of course is women falling in love with men specifically for their looks while not paying much attention to their morals. The character of Iñigo is set up to have some really dark areas of his morality that are never dealt with or used for an act of value. Instead, the film ignores this and seemingly wants the audience to buy into the relationship he forms with Nimfa which further betrays its supposed larger purpose as a parody while taking away from the grounded character drama also living within the film's surprisingly limited 73-minute runtime.
Lightning the mood a bit, it is worth pointing out that the animation within the film is rather strong. While maybe not the most complex work of the year, there is a clearly defined style to the animation that gives the film a unique visual personality within the larger animated genre. The character animation is well defined while the actual world built carries a personality of its own. Especially for its status as an independent animated feature, there is plenty visually that really does impress within the film and it undeniably helps suck the audience into the lives of these characters. The voice acting is also rather solid with Angelica Panganiban bringing a flare of attitude which the character of Nimfa needs while Sam Milby is the perfect mixture of sleazy and charming.
While Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story might not be the next animated masterpiece, there is enough here to where the film feels all around passable. The animation is truly stunning while the story is far less worthwhile. There is both a powerful character study and genuinely funny exaggeration of an established genre within the feature, but the final voice feels torn between these two identities instead of bringing them together into one confident film.
The first thing that demands to be pointed out within the film is what it actually is trying to be. This inquiry of identity is traditionally an easy question for a film to answer but with Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story, it isn't so simple. On one hand, the film feels like a raw look into the everyday working-class life with every struggle or highlight that can bring. From economic issues that Nimfa is dealing with specifically in trying to help her sister pay for school to the complexities of communicating within relationships, there is plenty within the feature for young adults to resonate with and find power in. The x-factor however is that the film is simultaneously trying to be a parody of the soap opera genre. With exaggerated visuals and cheesy dialogue, the film clearly is trying to poke fun at this genre which goes completely against the other half of the film when it comes to impact and style. These two sides of the film are at constant war with each other leading to a confusing and ultimately stunted final feature. Even the world itself feels confused as the clearly fictional world of talking animals will make strange mentions of Elon Musk and other relevant random pieces of modern society that works only to date the film and distract the audience.
The film itself also generally fails as a parody. While there are some legitimately funny moments especially within the animation, it serves more as an exaggeration of the genre with little of poignance being said about the genre to actually create a parody at its fundamental purpose. Instead, the film doubles down on some of the worst traits the genre can offer specifically when it comes to the morality of characters and relationships. The cliche of course is women falling in love with men specifically for their looks while not paying much attention to their morals. The character of Iñigo is set up to have some really dark areas of his morality that are never dealt with or used for an act of value. Instead, the film ignores this and seemingly wants the audience to buy into the relationship he forms with Nimfa which further betrays its supposed larger purpose as a parody while taking away from the grounded character drama also living within the film's surprisingly limited 73-minute runtime.
Lightning the mood a bit, it is worth pointing out that the animation within the film is rather strong. While maybe not the most complex work of the year, there is a clearly defined style to the animation that gives the film a unique visual personality within the larger animated genre. The character animation is well defined while the actual world built carries a personality of its own. Especially for its status as an independent animated feature, there is plenty visually that really does impress within the film and it undeniably helps suck the audience into the lives of these characters. The voice acting is also rather solid with Angelica Panganiban bringing a flare of attitude which the character of Nimfa needs while Sam Milby is the perfect mixture of sleazy and charming.
While Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story might not be the next animated masterpiece, there is enough here to where the film feels all around passable. The animation is truly stunning while the story is far less worthwhile. There is both a powerful character study and genuinely funny exaggeration of an established genre within the feature, but the final voice feels torn between these two identities instead of bringing them together into one confident film.