Betty (Charo Santos) had been married to her husband William (Al Tantay) for 33 years when they separated 12 years ago. They did not have any children. Betty dedicated all her time to being a college professor since then. When time came for her to retire from teaching, Betty had more free time to pursue her passion for painting still life, and working on her gardening. Betty's best friends were couple Cora (Shamaine Buencamino) and Bert (Joel Saracho).
Living across the street from Betty's house in the same private village was Ryan (Dingdong Dantes). He is a structural engineer whose life had been dealt with a cruel blow with the sudden death of his wife Sofia (Max Collins). It has now been one year since Sofia passed away, but Ryan is still haunted by her memory. One day, Ryan saw Betty struggling with her heavy shopping bags. He promptly went over to offer her assistance.
And from there, a fulfilling friendship would develop between these two neighbors, who did not know yet at that time that they were lonely. Based on her past work like "Meet Me in St. Gallen" (2018), "Sid and Aya: Not a Love Story" (2018), "On Vodka, Beers and Regrets" (2020), and "Five Breakups and a Romance" (2023), writer-director Irene Villamor is truly a master of bittersweet romance films. She weaves her magic again here.
Ever since the beginning of her career with "Itim" (1976), Ms. Charo Santos possessed that unmistakably radiant screen presence that illuminated any scene that she was in. She can effortlessly draw us to Betty's side and root for her to get through any challenge she faced. Santos was always classy in her portrayal of Betty, no sleazy cougar vibes at all despite Dingdong Dantes being 25 years younger than her.
Dantes yielded centerstage to Santos for most of the film. But as he was helping Betty, Ryan was being healed as well without him realizing it. Dantes was given an intense acting moment in that scene when Ryan read Betty's lab results. This sent him reeling on a prolonged anxiety attack haunted by the day of Sofia's death. Villamor, with Pao Orendain's camera, worked dizzying wonders in that scene, bringing us all inside Ryan's traumatic experience.
Villamor kept the relationship between Betty and Ryan very subtle. We were kept guessing whether there was indeed a romance brewing between them or not. We all felt like Cora when she first saw Betty and Ryan together -- intrigued by the mystery, yet there was an breathtaking thrill about them. It was sheer directorial skill how Villaflor kept this uncertainty going for the whole final act, and still keep us guessing all the way up to the ending. 9/10
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