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I guess everyone who’s seen it obviously remembers “Himala” for Nora, who is without peer in the film. But she’s actually fairly closed off to the audience for a good amount of the movie. She’s the quiet center of the film, but “Himala” in a sense is more about the people around her. (It’s literally what she says at the end of the film anyhow.)

I think the first time I saw “Himala”, Dueñas’ role seemed pretty stereotypical, the husky-voiced embodiment of the second half of the Madonna-whore duo. But in subsequent viewings, she clearly has a more complex role. She’s practically the one person in the movie who makes the most rational decisions of all.