One of the reasons why Antoinette Jadaone was able to launch effective romance movies isn’t really on the notion that she is reinventing popular love teams out of their cutesy zone, but in her foundation to keep the pairing as vulnerably grounded and relatable as possible.
As for her latest film ‘Alone/ Together,’ the tandem of Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil are immediately put on a halt by separating them. Soberano’s Tin and Gil’s Raf are initially established to us as an inseparable young couple. They have their own ideals, mostly aligned, but it will not be the same five years later.
The film jumps back and forth in between the time Tin and Raf are together and slowly having their relationship crumble by a mishap and the present day wherein they coincidentally meet on an awards ceremony. The two have their respective new partners, but the memories still reign, and thus begins their attempt to fix their broken connection.
Even with this premise, ‘Alone/ Together’ seems to veer away from the romance it is unraveling. This is almost a film about Tin alone, who struggles keeping up with the profession she didn’t even want vs the destruction of reaching his ideal one. Tin’s individual plight as well as their shared arc with Raf are handled nicely, but I just wish we had seen more of Raf. This is still a love story after all, a one-sided treatment just couldn’t work well.
‘Alone/ Together’ is the best Filipino film of 2019 so far. This might change given we are still early, but it’s quite a contender. Narrative treatment needs tweaking, but what we got here is still strong, especially with Liza Soberano already giving what might become the best performance for the year.
Again, too early to tell. But we can note that it’s already worth celebrating.
‘Alone/ Together’ is now showing in cinemas nationwide.
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