How in the world did they do it?
For as long as there are Filipino migrant workers, the big screen will never run out of colorful stories of sacrifices, hardships and love.
Daily TribuneFor as long as there are Filipino migrant workers, the big screen will never run out of colorful stories of sacrifices, hardships and love.
A Scene from ‘Un/Happy for You.’
Joshua Garcia
Julia Barretto
In 2024, there were only two local films that made money at the tills: Un/Happy for You and Hello, Love, Again. Both movies are now on Netflix and are doing very well.
What is it about these two films that made them commercially successful? The Butcher will decipher below both Un/Happy for You and Hello, Love, Again to find out what the fuss is all about.
Un/Happy for You is set in Naga, Camarines Sur. The two lead characters are Juancho (Joshua Garcia) and Zy (Julia Barretto), who are both into food. It is Juancho who is actually the culinary whiz. Zy, meanwhile, expresses her gastronomic passion with her work as a food writer in New York. She flies back home to write about Bicol cuisine.
The two are ex-lovers with a bitter parting. Since Juancho’s family owns a restaurant specializing in Bicolano dishes, it is inevitable for them to cross paths.
Do the former lovers get back together? The situation is not that simple since Zy is already engaged to Matt (Victor Silayan), who is also from New York.
That is basically the framework of Un/Happy for You. In between are scenes of food and angst and more angst. Bitterness galore.
Most of the performances in this movie are above average. It has a good supporting cast consisting of Ketchup Eusebio, Kaila Estrada and Nonie Buencamino. Unfortunately, their acting skills are not utilized properly given the insignificance of the parts they play in the movie.
Kaila, the daughter of Janice de Belen and John Estrada, to her credit, still manages to stand out even in a thankless role. She has a strong screen presence and knows how to project before the camera.
The best performance is actually given by Joshua Garcia, who is touted as the next John Lloyd Cruz. There is a chance he will become an even better actor than John Lloyd — if given the proper roles. His part in Un/Happy for You is not all that great — and yet, Joshua makes sure he has a consistent grip on his character from start to finish.
Julia Barretto, in sharp contrast, gives an uneven performance as Zy. Can you imagine what her talented aunt, Claudine Barretto, could have done with the role had Un/Happy for You been made during the older Barretto’s peak early in the millennium?
Julia comes off luminous in the film though — very pretty, without doubt. It’s just too bad, her character is underwritten. She is from Bicol, for instance. But where are her relatives?
Un/Happy for You is only successful — financially, that is — due to the chemistry between the two lead performers. They do make a handsome pair.
Unfortunately, the material of Un/Happy for You is thin as a wafer. The romance between Juancho and Zy is immature love. Zy accuses Juancho of being irresponsible. Look, who’s talking? She’s tasked to fly back to the Philippines for an assignment and yet she fails to meet her deadline. They deserve each other.
The character flaws of Juancho and Zy are among the film’s biggest problems. Neither is sympathetic. Maybe they should have just both jumped into the crater
And for a film about cuisine, the food scenes are not highlighted enough to make the viewers salivate over Bicol dishes. The food presented on screen do not look appetizing enough.
The director and his cinematographer should have carefully studied Como Agua para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) before they commenced shooting. Or perhaps Babette’s Feast —even Choclat.
Locally, there’s Oro, Plata, Mata, Apag and Namets! There’s a lot to learn from these films when it comes to photographing food.
It’s also rather disappointing that the young characters in Un/Happy for You speak Tagalog when the setting is in Camarines Sur. To this day, people in this province refrain from talking in their language ONLY if there is a non-Bicol speaker in their company.
The director should have required his stars to speak in a tongue native to the place (there are actually different Bicol languages) for more authenticity. The viewers who are not from Bicol could have still easily followed the story since all movies now have subtitles.
Although Un/Happy for You made money at the box-office and did well on Netflix, don’t expect the more discerning viewer to be happy with this film that has nothing substantial to offer.
In 2019, Hello, Love, Goodbye became the most successful film experiment of the year. Imagine putting together Alden Richards and Kathryn Bernardo in one movie.
That time, there were still several fanatics of AlDub, the phenomenal tandem of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza. Kathryn Bernardo, meanwhile, was deep into a romantic relationship then with Daniel Padilla, who was also her perennial screen partner.
The setting of Hello, Love, Goodbye is Hong Kong where Alden as Ethan and Kathryn as Joy play migrant workers. It is a very well-crafted movie with a fine cast. Both Alden and Kathryn were cited by various award-giving bodies for their outstanding performances in the film.
The sequel, Hello, Love, Again, is an even bigger commercial success than the first installment. The follow-up movie earned P2 billion globally.
The setting of Hello, Love, Again is in Canada. Joy is now Marie — and is literally devoid of joy. The name change is convenient since her official documents say she is Joy Marie Fabregas.
She also shifts to a new personality in Canada. In Hong Kong as Joy, she is only tired physically from work, but has a relatively better disposition in life. Her work schedule may be hell, but she is joyful in the company of friends.
In Canada, she still doesn’t get to work as a registered nurse, but has more freedom to do side hustles. There is bitterness in her heart, however. It is a darker Joy — Marie, rather — that viewers see in Hello, Love, Again.
Why does she transform into a new person in Canada? Ethan, who follows her to this land of opportunity, has a lot to do with that. But no spoiler alerts here. The viewer though shouldn’t be too quick to blame her for changing her attitude.
Her plate is full — with financial burdens and her ambition to finally put to use her nursing degree, preferably in New York. To top it all, her love life becomes a mess, no thanks in part to circumstances beyond her control.
The creative force behind Hello, Love, Again deserves a standing ovation for making sure that the sequel comes out even better than Hello, Love, Goodbye. It is a lot of work that pays off in the end.
The result: Hello, Love, Again comes out grander in all aspects. The photography is brighter, thus making the film visually appealing. All the technical elements work in harmony. The music adds to the atmospheric mood without being obtrusive.
It’s easy to say that the production designer should be a walk in the park since the setting is contemporary anyway. But a lot of effort is still thrown into it up to the littlest of details.
Hello, Love, Again also introduces a new style in cinema — although here’s hoping it doesn’t degenerate into another formulaic trend to be milked dry later by Star Cinema. Yes, early in the millennium, Star Cinema began a formula that worked in the beginning — until it started coming out of our ears.
Movie aficionados into Filipino films should be familiar with that Star Cinema look: Wisecracking best friends and sidekicks, a screen that is always busy and teeming with chattering people and a poor, yet incredibly happy family whose members make us sick with their saccharine approach to life. Enough of that!
Thankfully, there’s now Hello, Love, Again with a fresh approach. It’s all in the script. We can just imagine how many hours the scriptwriters spent working on the film’s blueprint to give movie audiences something to rave about.
The story of Hello, Love, Again is more complicated — compared to Hello, Love, Goodbye. The sequel, therefore, is more complex. It makes viewers think and analyze human characteristics.
But here’s something just for us, Filipinos. So, hush. While Hello, Love, Goodbye presents the strict rules imposed on migrant workers in Hong Kong, Hello, Love, Again is an introduction to the immigration laws in Canada.
It is practically a handbook on how to go around homeland security rules enforced by the Canadian government. Has anyone from the Canadian embassy seen this movie yet?
Of course, Hello, Love, Again doesn’t exactly encourage migrant workers to go against Canadian laws. In fact, the movie shows the pitfalls of breaking rules in a foreign land like Canada. It is just trying to be informative.
Hello, Love, Again is a very well-made movie with a great script, polished technical elements and inspired performances, courtesy of Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards. Should there be a Part 3 to this? Why not?
For as long as there are Filipino migrant workers, the big screen will never run out of colorful stories of sacrifices, hardships and love — as epitomized by Ethan and Joy. Oops, Marie. Okay, make that Joy Marie.