BIRTHDAY
M is a prostitute with a heart of gold. On her 25th Birthday not only does she spend her day looking after the needs of clients, such as Father Phillip, the priest who has lost faith, but also providing comfort to her colleagues, Lily and Cindy, who are facing their own struggles with their no-nonsense madam, Scarlet. Then Joey, a sweet but bumbling young man, knocks on her door and shows M hope is never lost for dreams to come true. Birthday strives to explore life’s big universal themes – God, religion, sex and lost love – with the premise that intimacy can be discovered in the most surprising places. While it captures the realities of these very human struggles at times, this is overwhelmed by clichéd character arcs, a contrived plot, amateurish acting and a sluggish pace. Perhaps it should’ve been a TV movie rather than a film for the big screen. (MP) **
