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Rita
Movie

Rita

2024 • Drama

Woke Score
4
out of 10

Plot

A new wife Rita, who finds herself alone when husband Ariel works abroad. They both find sexual satisfaction in other people. When Ariel comes back, they both act like nothing happened. But will this keep their marriage from falli...

Overall Series Review

The movie centers on Rita, a new wife, who is left alone when her husband Ariel goes abroad for work, leading her to seek satisfaction elsewhere. The narrative quickly escalates as both husband and wife engage in infidelity, with Rita sleeping with Ariel’s best friend, Royce. The plot introduces complex familial and sexual dynamics: Rita's gay younger brother, Marlon, holds an unrequited crush on Ariel. Ariel’s return is complicated by his own newly discovered sexual preferences developed while working abroad. The core conflict is a melodrama where personal weaknesses—infidelity, gambling addiction, and blackmail—cause the collapse of the nuclear family unit. The film explores the profound destruction caused by broken vows and hidden desires, rather than offering a moral lecture.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics4/10

Characters are defined by socioeconomic status; Ariel is an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), and Rita is a former bar girl. Ariel’s vulnerability while working abroad is highlighted when his rich Arab boss makes a sexual advance. The conflict largely remains focused on personal flaws and class dynamics within the Filipino community rather than racial hierarchy or a critique of whiteness.

Oikophobia2/10

The story is a modern melodrama centered on infidelity and blackmail within a contemporary setting. Institutions like marriage are depicted as fragile, but there is no explicit hostility or deconstruction of the home country’s heritage or ancestors. The narrative shows the negative consequences of personal corruption rather than framing the home culture as fundamentally corrupt.

Feminism3/10

Rita, the female lead, is not presented as an empowered 'Girl Boss'; her lack of guidance and subsequent infidelity lead to her being blackmailed and facing a potential wrecking of her life. The character is portrayed as flawed and destructive, which counters the 'Mary Sue' trope. The narrative does not contain anti-natalist messages; it focuses on the unraveling of the marriage itself.

LGBTQ+8/10

The narrative fully incorporates queer theory elements as central plot drivers. Rita’s younger brother, Marlon, is explicitly a gay character in love with his brother-in-law, Ariel. Furthermore, Ariel's return is motivated by his need to come to terms with a 'newly-discovered sexual preference'. The film uses these alternative sexualities and sexual fluidity to deconstruct the traditional nuclear family dynamic.

Anti-Theism2/10

The story is primarily a dramatic exploration of marital failure, infidelity, and human weakness. There is no overt hostility toward religion, and the consequences of the characters’ actions suggest a negative outcome for breaking moral law, rather than promoting moral relativism.