September 8, 2023
Jose Emilio "Jecs" Cruz (JM De Guzman) was a popular singer-songwriter whose fame was built upon his one single hit song entitled "What If?" He was currently struggling to come up with songs for his next album under big pressure from his manager Will (Chard Ocampo). Meanwhile, he is an active vlogger for his various sponsors to keep himself relevant to his fans. His mother Doris (Ana Abad Santos) kept calling to check up on him.
Isabella "Billie" Neri (Alessandra da Rossi) had a sad and traumatic childhood which made her very insecure. This was mainly due to her abusive father Enrico (Jett Pangan), who was also a famous musician himself. She was initially the keyboard player for Jecs at his recording studio. However, after working together on several songs, Jecs and Billie become a couple, eventually becoming engaged and getting married.
De Rossi and de Guzman are indie romance veterans, but the way their love story went south so quickly, their chemistry felt awkward, likely on purpose. The two also wrote music and lyrics for the songs, but frankly their singing did not sound too good. Resort caretakers Gina (Angie Castrence) and Francis (Soliman Cruz) had chemistry as comic relief, but they can also make situations tense up. Ana Abad Santos plays yet another nosy mother role, 4 in a row now. Jett Pangan made a strong impact in his single scene as Billie's toxic dad.
Director Emmanuel Quindo Palo was also the production designer, and he was able to find just the perfect isolated beach rest house in pristine CamSur, beautifully captured by Albert Banzon. Mike Rivera wrote the rather heavy-handed screenplay from a story he developed with de Rossi. It was uncomfortable to watch the two arguing about their faulty decisions. The story was told in flashbacks within flashbacks, so the editing by Law Fajardo was a key factor in how the marital drama unfolded non-linearly without losing us along the way. 5/10.
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