All of You

Indie materials has up the ante for Filipino romantic films that are worthy to rival those from South Korea, and I consider Dan Villegas pivotal to this new wave of real life, no BS, modern day romances, along with frequent collaborator, Jennylyn Mercado. She has shown her growth and caliber as an actress and has become the sweetheart of romcom dramas since English Only, Please. But All of You is a different beast, in spite of clichés here and there, this movie is devoid of predictability, and I find it bolder and sincere as it tackles painstakingly the intricacies of relationships, from the buoyant phase of dating through the pitfalls of time and living-in together, challenging one's perception of security and sense of self in the midst of their imminent doom, sharing the same vein to that of Joel and Clementine's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," in a less neurotic fashion. They say, it takes two to tango – a relationship needs two people for it to work and both of them shall be equally responsible for their actions. All Of You is an in-your-face testament to this, especially to couple's shortcomings, with women's obsession of trying to change their men–by controlling them to be the person they want them to be to the point of exhaustion. Whereas, the reluctant boyfriend appears obliging pretends to agree in order to save his pride and ego, but to the derision of his tormented girlfriend who succumbs to feelings of dissatisfaction and deceit. Derek Ramsay outshines his previous roles and this time around there is more truth in the saying that his acting here is a "revelation." He embraced the imperfection of his character and let go of the swoon worthy aspect of his physical attributes rather focusing on what doesn't make him an eligible prospect.