May-December-January (2022)

The only "BL" series where I have cried all the way through the BL NC scene!

There is a BL element to this--a very important one--but there is also a hetero romance.

This is an affecting and heart-warming story. It's not for everyone due to the May-December aspect. But the emotions are so well-portrayed and the story is so well-written. It's a tear-jerker for sure. And I don't cry during most films/series that other people say affected them.

I loved all three characters. We could perhaps have done with a little more clarification about why May fell for December (other than sex)... had she not dated for years, and if not, why not? It's hard to imagine a much younger man providing enough interest for her--other than love and sex. I'm not at all saying it's not possible, just that we needed to see a bit more of her to understand why she fell so hard. I would have rated it 9+ if that had been included, even briefly.

May's wish for her son's desire to be fulfilled before he died was so moving. It was a brilliant lead-up and climax to the story. And this is where I couldn't stop crying, with sadness and joy.
I'm so glad I watched this even though it stills makes me sad when I think about it.

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A beautifully sad tragedy

When we look at internationally acclaimed Filipino movies that have been released since 2019, we stumble across a bunch of young actors who I would call a ”golden generation”, because they all prove an outstanding talent as well as acting skills you simply wouldn't expect from actors below or in their early 20s. It all started in 2019 with ”Fuccbois” starring Kokoy de Santos, Royce Cabrera and Migs Villasis, ”Kalel,15” that was the foundation of Elijah Canlas' international career, and ”Metamorphosis” with a stunning performance by Gold Aceron.

Then think of some of the most beautiful BL series, like ”Gameboys”, where Elijah and Kokoy helped people around the world endure the pains of Covid lockdowns, ”Gaya sa Pelikula” which made Paolo and Ian Pangilinan international stars, ”Meet My Angel 1 and 2” with wonderful acting by Kaleb Ong and Enzo Santiago, gay series like ”Love at the End of the World”, ”Daddy Love” and ”Papa, What is Love?” starring Rex Lantano, plus lots of short films with the actors mentioned above, and you'll understand why I'm talking about a ”golden generation” of Filipino actors.

Today, I'm reviewing another example of a high quality movie, ”May December January”, which makes Kych Minemoto join this exclusive club of Filipino ”golden generation actors”, and I'm soon going to review the next highlight, ”About Us But Not About Us”, again with Elijah Canlas.

I'll keep the summary of ”May December January” short because I don't want to spoil all the wonderfully written and acted scenes of this tragedy – and a tragedy it is! It is the story of Pol (Gold Aceron), who is terminally ill with a heart disease, and who lives with his mother Claire (Andrea del Rosario) in a beautiful house in a remote part of the mountains. Pol's best friend Migoy (Kych Minemoto) spends a lot of time in this house, and he falls in love with Claire. Their affair turns into mutual affection and love, which they hide from Pol first. But Pol, who is gay and has a secret crush on Migoy, finds out about his mother's relationship with his best friend Migoy. His reaction reveals deep sadness and at the same time a deep love of his mother.

When Pol's health deteriorates, with the prospect of a sudden death, Claire asks Migoy to have sex with Pol so that Pol can experience this feeling before he dies. Pol and Migoy's sex scene is the climax of the movie, the more so as the viewer senses that Pol will die very soon after. It's heartbreaking when he actually does, and Migoy and Claire's wedding at the end of the movie may be the saddest wedding ever seen in a movie.

The story may sound like the plot of a cheap porn movie, and it could have been something like that if it hadn't been written so sensitively so that the backstories and motivations of all three characters become completely understandable. Even the sex scenes aren't voyeuristic, but they rather illustrate the steps of the evolution of the protagonists' relationships.

The fantastic acting adds to the impression that we aren't watching a movie targeting the viewers' inferior curiosity, but a beautiful character study that makes the obscure situation in the secluded house in the hills an interesting story of love, yearning, and fulfillment, albeit with the most tragic ending thinkable. We believe that Claire is overwhelmed by Migoy's love confession, and we understand that she struggles with herself before she accepts her own feelings towards the young man. We also believe that Migoy isn't aiming at a quick conquest, and we suffer with Pol when he accidentally discovers what's going on in his mother's bedroom.

After Kych's convincing acting as effeminate Achilles in ”Gameboys 2”, I was sceptical about him playing a seductive, obviously straight young man, but it is an indication of his acting skills that he masters both, somewhat opposing roles convincingly. Gold personifies Pol's character equally credibly – he has a talent of intruding viewers' minds so that they fall in love with the character he plays (sorry, Gold's amazing presence as an actor carries me away sometimes).

Kych and Gold have beautiful scenes together which prove that their respective characters really love and care of each other. There is a scene when Pol tries to steal a kiss from Migoy when they sleep in the same bed, and Migoy's reaction on Pol's confession of his secret crush is just beautiful acting from both Kych and Gold.

When it comes to the cinematography, I think it matches the sensitive approach of the script, as it is very cautious about disturbing the characters' privacy, which may sound contradictive since there are very intimate scenes indeed, but the camera always keeps a distance, or the scenery is a semi-dark room.

The setting is beautiful, although I must admit that this may be my personal prejudice. I simply love a rural setting, and in this movie not only the seclusion of Claire and Pol's house, but also scenes in the forest are very much my taste.

All in all, this movie approaches a sensitive subject very cautiously, and script, directing, and acting make it a piece of art. If you prefer light entertainment, I would advise you to avoid this movie, but if you can cope with a beautifully sad tragedy, this will be one for you.

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Kisah cinta segitiga, tapi agak lain

Menceritakan dua sahabat bernama Pol dan Migoy, mereka sangat dekat sehingga Migoy sering berkunjung ke rumah Pol untuk mengerjakan tugas bersama, hal ini dilakukan bahkan sampai larut malam membuat Migoy di minta untuk menginap saja. Suatu waktu ternyata Pol punya perasaan kepada Migoy sahabatnya ini ; namun di saat yang sama ternyata Migoy menyukai ibu Pol, bagaimana kisah cinta segitiga ini terjadi? saksikan filmnya. Dari segi dialog menurutku agak berat ya, pembahasannya juga tidak biasa, alurnya mudah difahami ya, ini merupakan film melodrama sedih ; ada beberapa life meaning yang bagus di film ini, walaupun beberapa scene terlihat agak tidak pas, seperti hubungan seorang "anak" dengan orang "dewasa", namun tidak bisa disebut anak ya karena Migoy adalah orang yang akan memasuki usia dewasa, selain itu ada filler lain yang tidak terlalu di jelaskan atau tidak dibuat clear di cerita ini seperti hubungan orang tua Migoy yang kurang begitu indah, dan penyakit yang di derita Pol, ini sangat menekan tokoh utama. Selebihnya mungkin film ini rekomendasi untuk di tonton, tapi saya fikir tidak semua orang menyukai cerita yang seperti ini. Dari segi warna, menurutku pribadi mirip seperti film-film tahun 2000an, latar yang ditampilkan juga tidak terlalu fantastis, walaupun begitu film ini punya cerita yang unik sebagai kekuatan utamanya.

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