ALONE/TOGETHER: Not just a love story. It's also about ambition, victory, failure, self-worth and redemption.

Black Sheep and ABS-CBN Film productions latest offering “Alone/Together” is a film which revolves college sweethearts Christine (Liza Soberano) and Raf (Enrique Gil). Christine is the A-list college student from UP, an ambitious and idealist young lass who dreams of working in a world-renown museum. Raf, on the other hand, is a simple, happy-go-lucky guy from UST who is madly in love with Christine. Fast forward to several years, the two meet again and unravel unexpected developments in their lives.  Through the course of their reconciliation, Tin and Raf will put closure on several “what ifs” of their past.

STRENGTHS:

Antonette Jadaone’s screenplay is close to realism. She presented the characters of Christine and Raf relatable as possible. The subplots revolving the core of its story are not pushy and fanciful. The love angle of the central characters is not "hard sell" given that this is a LizQuen movie.  Jadaone’s directorial approach of ALONE/TOGETHER doesn’t romanticize too much but deep dives in the humanism of each character in the film. Christine and Raf are not angelic types. They curse, they fail, they do unconventional and unpopular choices in life just like any young adult out there. They experience failure, heartbreak and obstacle.  Jadaone uses elements to create a unique flavor of a pop love-story film.  I like how the correlation of Antonio Luna’s Spoliarium and Eraserheads’ hit single  Spoliarium was used in the film. It’s a creative way of combining history and pop culture; the contrast and similarity; of art and entertainment

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The cinematography is attuned with the story progression. It’s vivid when scenes get rosy and blooming. It’s dim when scenes get shady and melancholy.

The lead actors (Liza and Enrique) are also presented in such a way that they are very relatable with the audience. Liza and Enrique hardly had make-up on during flashback scenes (college era). As a viewer, I can see myself to them being juvenile students.

Liza and Enrique have both evolved into mature thespians. Evidently, their depictions have shown great improvement from their previous films. I think ALONE/TOGETHER is more of a Liza Soberano vehicle than an Enrique movie to highlight their full potential as actors.

Jasmine Curtis Smith and Adrian (Luis) Alandy are commendable too. Their portrayals are remarkable. They are proof that there are no small roles, only actors.

Using Eraserheads and Rivermaya’s hit songs (Spoliarium and 214) also add pop flavor. The 90s generation can reminisce their high school and college days with great smiles.

OPPORTUNITY:

I just feel that the ending of the movie is still a bit “Star Cinemaish”. Although the romantic tone has gone down effortlessly, I can still feel the purposeful marketing way of BlackSheep to please the Pinoy movie-going public. I just felt that the final part of the story should have done differently to be more pragmatic.  

Alone/Together tries to veer away from the usual Star Cinema formulaic pop romantic story that they are known for. 

The film visualizes a more realistic approach about young people’s lives, heartaches and pains, dreams and aspirations, and self-worth and redemption.  

The movie is not preachy but overtly conveys important life lessons that the millennials should learn from and emulate.

My rating: 9/10

image courtesy of Black Sheep Productions/ABS-CBN Film Productions/Star Cinema

AURORA shows promise but fails to sustain its distinction towards the end!

I always consider YAM LARANAS as a visionary director, especially in the horror/suspense thriller genre.  I admire his braveness in making atypical storylines for Pinoy audience. In my opinion, his movies were not really mainstream but obviously were starred in by mainstream actors and produced by mainstream film studios (mostly Viva/GMA Films).  I've seen his previous films like RADYO (about a serial killer and a radio disc jock), The ROAD (about a serial killer and the story behind a haunted road), SIGAW (about a haunted building), Patient X (about an aswang patient) and Ikaw Lang Hanggang Ngayon (romantic comedy). It's been a while since his last film so I was so thrilled to see that his latest opus AURORA made the cut in this 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival.

AURORA tells the story of a passenger ship that has run into the rocks off the coast of a desolate island. It lost numerous lives and the families of the lost passengers still hoped to recover the dead bodies of their loved ones. Leana (Anne Curtis) owns a seafront hotel in the island where the shipwreck happened. She lives with her younger sister Rita (Phoebe Villamor) and tries to make ends meet by having their house as a base for rescue and operations. Leana engages in a clandestine agreement with some families of the dead passengers to continue the search operations to earn extra money. This is when the haunted truths start to surface.

Strengths:

AURORA is visually top-notch. Director Yam Laranas has not lost his Midas touch in cinematography. It's creepy when it's creepy. It's dark when it's dark. It's bleak when it's bleak. The underwater scenes are cogent. The camera shots are impressive.

The opening sequence is Hollywoodish. The magic realism of the scenes where Leana’s house is juxtaposing inside AURORA is commendable.

The orchestral musical score sets the eerie sensation. The daunting music is not common in Pinoy horror or suspense thriller movies I've seen in the last 15 years or so.

The actors delivered a passable performance. Anne Curtis has improved a lot. In this movie, she's relatable as an island lass. Good thing the Aussie twang isn't recognizable anymore when she delivers her line. The supporting cast members' portrayals are convincingly good too. Kudos to Phoebe Villamor, Marco Gumabao, Allan Paule, Arnold Reyes, Mercedes Cabral, Sue Prado to name a few. 

Weaknesses:

The "suspense" factor in some scenes is a bit dragging. The first act is a bit sluggish. The characterization has inconsistencies too. For example, Leana's character at the start is gray but leans towards goodness in the third act of the film. The motivation of Leana’s character is incoherent. The screenplay decided to portray Leana as the morally anchored protagonist. And this for me makes it a “mainstream” movie characterization.

Also, in the third act, how in the world the cadavers of the AURORA victims appear to be un-bloated,

un-decayed and in fresh state knowing that several weeks have passed after the shipwreck happened?  Another what the F moment is, how in the world the huge AURORA ship has been totally swept by the waves and was invisible just like that? I believe, the ending is not really well-thought out.

   

AURORA is not your Filipino traditional scare movie. It’s more atmospheric and moody.

The film AURORA showed promise (especially in the technical aspect) at the start but sadly failed to sustain its distinction at the end.

My rating:  7/10

image courtesy of  Viva Films