June 20, 2023
One day, Jeffrey Espino (Carlo Aquino) traveled to Legazpi City in Albay and stayed in a rustic inn called Balay Elizabeth. The inn was run by Abner (Robert Sena) and the resident tour guide is his niece Lizzy (Barbie Imperial). However, even before his first tour, Jeff already met Elizabeth "Lizzy" Tuazon the night before when he was invited to join a drinking spree there. The biggest drinker of them all was Lizzy.
Lizzy learned that Jeff was a seminarian, but that did not stop the two from getting to know each other better. They talked about how the difficult issues they went through with their fathers as children drove them to become the people they are now. Despite the awkward circumstances, Jeffrey and Lizzy fell in love with each other. However, her uncle Abner expressed his belief that what they were doing was very wrong.
One interesting detail to be noted in the closing credits of this film was that the story was somehow inspired by a story in the life of this film's supervising and line producer Ellice Tuason (whose name is very similar to Lizzy's full name). However, the story credit was given to another producer, Erwin Blanco, while the screenplay was written by Onay Sales-Camero. The director is RC delos Reyes, whose "Unravel" and "Without You" also came out this year.
Carlo Aquino and Barbie Imperial are both very reliable actors. Because Aquino is known to tackle very intense and difficult roles even in romances, he surely just breezed through the very thin first hour of the film, where he basically toured Legazpi's scenic spots, while Imperial's main acting challenge was to convincingly act very drunk. However, their talents for restrained acting and subtle nuance were tested to the max in the last 30 minutes or so.
Most of the film would probably be forgotten soon after watching. The revelation of what really happened did not rfeel satisfactory because the odd style of writing left a lot of details wanting. Despite this, that very unique situation that unfolded in the final scene at the church would likely make it to the list of the most memorable ending scenes in a local film. While some may find it romantic, it felt very awkward for me, specially with all the staring going on. 5/10.
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