May 9, 2026
Janine (Fyang Smith) and RR (JM Ibarra) have been best friends since their childhood. They had special nicknames for each other -- Janine called RR "Pip," while RR called Janine "Bulots." Janine followed her mother's footsteps to take up Law. Atty. Melissa Mesina (Che Ramos) entrusted her to the care of RR, who was free to spend nights in her condo. Meanwhile, RR applied to do volunteer work via an NGO called Guardians of Humanity.
RR had long been in love with Janine. However, she was head-over-heels obsessed about her music idol Kenzo (Dustin Yu), whom she even made into a superhero in her online fanfic entitled "My Undercover Love." Unknown to her, RR even helped to make her fanfic viral so that it would get Kenzo's attention, which it did. Janine was thrilled no end when Kenzo asked to treat her out to dinner, but RR tagged along as her unwilling chaperone.
I have already seen JM Ibarra act before, in his official big screen debuting in the lead role of Cinemalaya film "Child No. 82 (Anak ni Boy Kana)." Again, he proves his charisma and charm with the ladies, as well as his dramatic chops here, as he did before. As RR, Ibarra plays the more sympathetic character, the one more people can identify with. RR is the partner who had loved more than he was loved back, but who later learns to speak up for himself.
Fyang Smith was the grand winner of PBB Gen 11 in 2024. For her film debut as a lead, it was very brave for her to accept this role of Janine, a flawed character whose selfishness caused her to chase fantasies instead of seeing the love right beside her. She was given a number of awkward actions or corny lines, particularly those directed to Sue (Yuki Takahashi), whom she saw as a threat to her happiness, but Smith's winsome delivery saves the day.
Dustin Yu makes a very good impression as an action star Kenzo in his fight scenes in the opening sequence, but unfortunately his fantasy character did not go much further afterwards. Former indie child actor JM Salvado played RR's loud English-challenged friend Otep. Sam Samarita played Janine's pretentious Taglish-challenged pre-law classmate. Veteran indie actress Che Ramos made the most of Atty. Mesina's single scene together with Janine.
There was nothing really new about the plot, save for its zany Gen Z features, clearly not for my generation. Whether you find her cute or annoying, Fyang Smith's Janine provided that extra unique memorable quality to this very familiar story. This character's polarizing over-the-top personality, on top of the much-hyped anticipation for this Gen Z love-team's first film together, distinguishes "Almost Us" from more generic rom-coms of its kind. 5/10
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