Review of SEOULMEYT: Persuasive Pretender

 May 30, 2024

Luneta "Lunie" (Kim Molina), eldest daughter of the Paticul family, was a rabid fan of handsome K-drama actors, like many of her neighbors. Her peaceful existence all changed when a massive storm hit their village.  The strong rains fell for four days straight, causing destructive floods. Lunie's mother (Candy Pangilinan) and her younger siblings (Stanley Abuloc and Kylie Labrador) survived, but sadly, their father did not. 

Juanito Mamaril (Jerald Napoles) was a Filipino working as a bodyguard for Park Empire Korea (or PEK), a massive construction firm.  One day, his boss Madame Park Mi-ni (Jobelyn Manuel) assigned him to go with her son Park Ju-tae (Ha Ju-young) to Lunie's community to promote their rehab proposals. At the last minute, the spoiled heir refused to show up, so Juanito had to quickly come up with Plan B to get the contact signed. 

Writer-director Darryl Yap had written and directed his entire filmography. He exploded into the mainstream scene with "#Jowable" (2019). In 2021, he had an incredible consecutive 10-movie blast, all on Vivamax. His next two films were both politically-charged and courted massive controversy -- "Maid in Malacanang" (2022) and "Martyr or Murderer" (2023). He is now back to provocative comedies -- "Para Kang Papa Mo" (2023) and now, this new one.  

Kim Molina launched her lead star status on the big screen via Darryl Yap's "#Jowable" in 2019.  Molina and Yap got together for a second time with "Ang Babaeng Walang Pakiramdam" (2021), this time with her real-life boyfriend Jerald Napoles as leading man. The three of them are now reunited once again for this new film that brought them to shoot on location in South Korea. This second collaboration was better than the first.  

That Napoles passed for a Korean man ("White Chicks" style) in itself is already silly, and that no-one ever questioned it, even more so. However, Napoles playing Jun-jun so seriously in perfect deadpan, plus the cute romantic chemistry he generated with Molina carried this film over the absurdity of its premise. Napoles and Molina's attempt to set a time record in the final scene was also amusing, but after 5 minutes of them still going at it, I really had to go. 

Supporting actors also get to shine. Alma Moreno was scene-stealing as Juanito's mother Sally, along with Loren Marinas as his sister Jennifer. Hashtag Kid Yambao, who would probably have made a more convincing Korean man with less prosthetics, made a good impression as Juanito's co-bodyguard Sonny Boy. On the more serious side, Isay Alvarez played a neighbor Nanay Gigi, whose husband Bert went missing during the storm. 

After his two heated real-life political dramas, it was refreshing to have Yap back to comedy. Plenty of jokes were on the green side with several sexual double-entendres with the names, but were admittedly funny.  Call me shallow, but the funniest joke for me was when Lunie told Sonny Boy the story of how she Luneta and her siblings MM and Paris got their names. Now, I will not spoil that joke for you, so you will have more reason to go watch this. 7/10.