Kiki, el amor se hace

♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

HARPAXOPHILIA. After having sex, Alejandro (Álex García) asks his girlfriend Natalia (Natalia de Molina) if she liked it. Her reaction is rather passive, and then goes on to confess that a guy robbed the convenience store she went to that morning, holding her at knifepoint, and that IT turned her on. DACRYPHILIA. María Candelaria (Candela Peña) is having a difficult time having either an orgasm or a baby with Antonio (Luis Callejo). When he receives some bad news over the phone which leaves him in tears, she gets aroused. SOMNOPHILIA. The intimate life of José Luis (Luis Bermejo) has never been then same after his wife Paloma’s (Mari Paz Sayago) accident, but he stays up all night waiting for her to fall asleep, because the sight of her lying unconscious on their bed makes his pulse race. ELIPHILIA. Sandra (Alexandra Jiménez) is deaf and has always thought of this as the reason why she can’t catch a good relationship, although it could also be due to her unusual fetish for everything made of silk. POLYAMORY. Paco (Paco León) and Ana (Ana Katz) attend a sexual therapy session to salvage their marriage, but it doesn’t work. When his lesbian childhood friend Belén (Belén Cuesta) pays them a visit and gives her a peck on the lips, she realizes that she actually likes it. When she tells him this, he is angry at first, but suggests that the two ladies give it a shot. When he sees them making out, he joins the fun.

Filipinos will have a field day with the title because “Kiki” is a slang word for “vagina” in Tagalog, although in the context of the film it seems more like a playful nickname for a woman and nothing else. If you come to the cinema expecting something semi-pornographic, then you are watching the wrong movie. If anything, this film is a fun take on various sexual quirks that some of our fellow human beings have, and the absurdities brought about by such oddities make a really hilarious montage of scenes that are racy but also borderline weird. When it comes to such fetishes, the most commonly heard of is that of Necrophilia, which is already strange enough to begin with. Who knew that there are more of them existing that we never knew about!

While most of the scenes are funny because of their eccentricity, there are also some that stand out for various reasons. For example, the Somnophilia arc is rather sad for the mere reason that it tackles two people in a marriage that has lost its zest because of external factors out of their control. It feels more like one party has given up and they are just holding on to it for all the wrong reasons. When they finally reach the emotionally charged confrontation scene, you realize that it’s no laughing matter at all. But this film is a comedy, and we are reminded of that when the maid suddenly butts in to recite her punchline. So yeah, there are some touching scenes that can be expounded to tackle some harsh realities in life, but they are presented in such a way that they don’t drag the entire narrative into melodrama territory.

And then there are the downright sidesplitting scenes, mostly from the married couple like that one you see on the trailer with him complaining that her oral skills are not that good. And then he goes on to describe it in detail and the wife’s reaction is simply deadpan. When they consider Belén’s suggestion and visit a sex club with a variety of themes every night, the resulting experience is funny AF. At the same time it’s cute because you see a couple trying new things to spice up their relationship, going against the norm nowadays which involves giving up and just getting a divorce. We're not saying that if you find yourself feeling trapped in your own marriage, then you should consider polyamory. The point here is that it usually takes two to tango, and knowing what makes your partner tick is also essential in maintaining a healthy relationship. Simply put, it's not a one-way street.

All in all it was an enjoyable movie, educational even. Its message is clear, that we all have different tastes not just in sex but also in various aspects of life. The same can be applied to religion, political affiliation, etc. In the end, we just have to agree to disagree, or bend a bit to accommodate our significant other's desires when it comes to things more intimate in nature. As they always say, to each his own. There's always fun in diversity.