Milan (Milos Pjevac) wages periodic bets with his buddy Jovan ((Slaven Doslo) to see how many sexual conquest they can acquire in short periods of time. However when he meets Maja (Jovana Stojiljkovic) what originally begins as another score for Jovan, after several heavy sexual encounters, suddenly his conquest turns into an “open relationship”. Maja accepts his conditions, but it seems Jovan has problems dealing with his own rules as he becomes obsessed with Maja’s every move on social media.
Obsession leads to jealousy and to Jovan attempts to try to re-categorize his relationship with Maja as he follows her every move. Jovan find it increasingly difficult to deal with his own rules he implemented in the relationship causing Maja to denounce his contemptuous treatment of her on several occasions. His temper progressively turns volatile and his feelings for Maja makes Jovan paranoid that everyone in her surroundings is either a culprit in hiding the affairs he thinks she’s having or they are having an affair with her themselves.
This situation becomes unbearable for Maja and it does turn Jovan into a walking mess as he’s unable find answers amidst his continuous accusations of Maja’s infidelities. There is something to be said about Jovan’s allegations, for Maja’s demeanor is very withholding and vague towards Jovan’s claims, giving him more ammunition to doubt her credibility. His increasingly paranoid scenarios regarding Majas affairs with whomever may be chummy with her on her social media leads Jovan to a borderline nervous breakdown. A once carefree player is now on the other side of his game, and the results take a toll on his daily existence for he trails and follows Maja’s every move online with unconvincing results. The intelligence of “Panama” comes as a result of the way the social media information is gathered by Jovac and the way it makes him borderline manic, as he strategizes how to conduct his surveillance of Maja to mixed results and to the detriment to his relationship with her.
The Panama connection becomes apparent as Jovac is lead to believe that Maja has departed to Panama under mysterious circumstances never to be seen again, or did she?. A riveting cause and effect tale, all the subplots of Majas whereabout tie in nicely with the progressively self destructive behavior of Jovan. Jovan’s obsession is acquired as a results of his apparent self projecting insecurities of Maja due to the standards and lifestyle he lives by.
The film’s beautifully crafted explicit sex scenes complements the story visually as it tacitly explains a darker addiction to pornography & social media. The radical changes that leads the Jovan into a tailspin of self deception grows in apparent misplaced distrust of his friends and surroundings.
Panama is a very thought provoking film as it begs to question the role social media is having on relationships and how misplaced trust in this media can prove destructive if not checked against reality.
Trailer: