Let us put it out there pronto: “Enjoy Your Stay” is a difficult watch.

It should come with a disclaimer.

Those who think they’re in for a mellifluous drama will be terribly disappointed.

And that is what makes “Enjoy Your Stay” so unsettling.

As the opening film of Cinemalaya 22, it was quite a statement. 

You don’t see films like this made every day.

Directed by Dominik Locher and Honeylyn Joy Alipio, the film follows Luz (Mercedes Cabral), an undocumented Filipina cleaner working in a luxury Swiss ski resort while trying to keep custody of her daughter in Manila.

The film takes us away from postcard Switzerland and into the lives of Filipino workers who exist mostly in the background of that beautiful world. They work, struggle, make mistakes and try to survive.

There are no cartoonish villains here, nor are there heroes conveniently waiting to save the day. There are just ordinary people, each carrying their own dreams and aspirations, trying to claw their way toward a better life.

And Luz is caught right in the middle of it.

She has problems of her own, but her moral compass makes it difficult for her to simply go along with what everyone else is doing. You can feel her frustration. Her hopelessness. Her desperation.

And that is where the film really gets you.

Watching Luz make difficult choices is uncomfortable because you understand, at least to some extent, why she is making them.

In a brief conversation, Cabral admitted that the role took a lot out of her.

“Matagal bago ko napagpag ang character, mahirap,” she told us.

The preparation more so.

“Mahaba ang proseso nito and I’m thankful na 'yung coaches na binigay nila sa kin were really helpful so, kahit hirap sa schedule I was able to prepare pa rin.”

You can tell she understood what the film was trying to say.

“Oo, kaya nga hopefully mas marami ang makanood na kababayan natin.”

We hope so, too.

Because this is the kind of film that makes you stop and think about people who leave home, often without proper documents, because they believe there is a better life waiting somewhere else.

But what happens to them when things go wrong?

And what is government really doing to protect people who have become so desperate that they are willing to risk everything just to have a fighting chance?

It is an uncomfortable question because we know why undocumented migrants do what they do. They are not necessarily chasing a glamorous life. More often than not, they are simply trying to survive.

“Enjoy Your Stay” does not make it easy to look away.

For a while, you are among these people. You feel their fear. You share their desperation. You become frustrated with them and, sometimes, even for them.

It is a difficult watch, yes.

But strangely enough, we found ourselves thanking serendipity for allowing us to experience it.

Because every once in a while, a film comes along that opens a door to a world most of us know little about.

This is one of those films.

And if it makes more people think about the lives of migrant workers, the risks they take and the systems that leave them vulnerable, then perhaps its discomfort is precisely the point.

Cinemalaya 22 carries the theme “Reel Reflections.”

“Enjoy Your Stay” certainly gives us something to reflect on.