October 19, 2023
Justine Ramos (Julia Montes) was working as a fashion brand manager in Singapore. One night while at a concert, she met Lance Sandoval (Alden Richards), a medical student who was there as a tourist. The attraction between them was instant and electric, so they got away from their friends to get to know each other better. Before long, their conversation led to a passionate kiss, and then all the way to a romp in the sheets.
It was supposed to have been a one-night stand, but Lance felt it was more and pursued Justine at her place of work the next day, even if he was already had tickets to return home for the next day. From their meeting in 2014 as the first chapter, the film would go up to five chapters, taking the audience on the rollercoaster ride of their love story, as it resumed in the Philippines, rose up, dipped down, and went through a pandemic.
The filmography of writer-director Irene Emma Villamor consists of love stories about a couple whose relationship went through a wringer. If you have seen "Meet Me at St. Gallen" and "Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story" (2018), "Ulan" (2019), "Of Vodka, Beers and Regret" (2020), and "Ikaw, Ako at ang Ending" (2021), you'd probably be able to venture a guess about how "Five Breakups" will turn out, and you'd likely be right.
As she had done so in all her previous films, Villamor can still conjure up a script with lines that hit home, that connect and ring true to any audience member in a romantic relationship, either good or bad, middle class or elitist. She seems to possess the same sensitivity about how men would talk and feel as she did about women. This writing talent was evident especially during that bitter argument of Chapter 2, or those reflective confessions of Chapter 5.
Villamor's visuals were lush and stunning, from cosmopolitan Singapore in the Prologue to idyllic Batangas in Chapter 3. It does not hurt that her camera loved her two lead actors, Richards and Montes, both without a bad angle and looked great together. Beyond looks, they both imbued their characters with passion so palpable that you feel the exuberance of their thrill, pain of their regret and weight of their emotions. 8/10.
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