Magdalena stands out with its portrayal of how young souls can be rescued. Malen′s mother is a ′mediator′ between God and people, who makes a living by saying prayers for others. Malen hates her strict, semi-clergywoman mother. One day, in the middle of an argument, the mother slap her daughter, who gets enraged enough to run away and move in with her boyfriend. A male prostitute at night and a clerk at a rent-a-car office in the day, just when they seem to have reached a dead end, there is an unexpected turn. With Malen′s mother sacrificing her life for her daughter and Malen taking over her mother′s profession as a ′mediator′, God′s miracles seem to come true one by one. The drastic and even fantastic turn of a wayward daughter into a saint entails the process of Malen compromising with her guilt toward her mother, with her disappointment in herself, and with the society, Furthermore, the story seems to be a religious fable which implies that in order to reassure one′s self-esteem and thus muster up the courage to be the first one to propose a compromise, human relationships require affection and trust. One of the most important women directors in the Philippines, Laurice Guillen tells us how everyone can be a saint in his or her own right in this tightly written and eloquently directed film. (Michelle Sohn)