Among the various contradictory situations that human beings experience throughout their lives, the relationships they establish with their peers are one of the most enigmatic. On the one hand, we are beings who naturally seek company and, in fact, it was thanks to our ability to socialize and live in groups that we survived and evolved as a species.
However, at the same time, building relationships comes with some difficulties. For various reasons, loneliness, isolation or some other form of these conflicts prevails over the natural inclination to company, preventing connection with others and even with the world around us.
Throughout their history, film and television have explored these setbacks from different perspectives. In some cases, having as a premise that loneliness is a symptom of complex emotional states, in others as an effect of the social alienation fostered by the world-system in which we live, and on other occasions seeing loneliness that is experienced as a transition necessary towards something more.
'Lonely Connections', by Joselito Altarejos, addresses the deeply human and existentialist theme of loneliness in love. Does feeling alone, despite being accompanied, mean having to give up love? On the contrary, the person who feels lonely in a relationship wants love, but at the same time is very aware of the type of relationship they need and what they expect from their partner. Perhaps it is precisely because of this awareness that finding the right person is not easy.
The viewer is faced with a reflection on how human beings face, in an intimate way, the search for happiness and their own identity. Loneliness may not be the best theme for a series or a film, since it does not need to be dramatic, energetic and, of course, happy or romantic. But it is a fundamental part of our human nature and a feeling that we have all felt at least once in our lives.
The famous Filipino filmmaker starts from this reality to tell us a story that shows that having a relationship with another person is no guarantee of feeling loved and accompanied. Feeling loneliness, indifference and emptiness on the part of the other person should make us reflect on the health of the relationship itself. When these events occur it is because there is real wear and tear, and decision-making is needed.
The characters of the series find themselves in a gray atmosphere, full of monotony, tedium, and depersonalized beings. They are solitudes that come together, recognizing new faces and new voices from the crowd. In six episodes lasting about 15 minutes on average, 'Lonely Connections' fills its footage with small gestures while they, the actors, without shyness or modesty, have hard and hot sex, while exposing their erect penises in front of the computer screen , showing themselves to whoever is on the other side of it, knowing in what is nothing more than a fleeting moment within their lives.
As an example of Altarejo's stylistic mastery, which makes every scene overflow with beauty and excess, the series reflects on maturity, heartbreak, the search for happiness, the need to feel connected to someone and the feeling of wanting to escape and live. at that moment. It deals with the loneliness of the individual in the couple since, despite having someone by their side, the characters are characterized by a deep loneliness framed by unhappiness.
But the series adds a new ingredient: it takes advantage of the quarantine and social isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, to make loneliness more palpable and raw.
With dark photography and a sad, melancholic soundtrack, the series explores heartbreak and loneliness, but also invites us to reflect on the relevance of being with a person who loves you and loves you just as you are, rather than surrounding yourself with people. with which you will never feel accompanied and happy. The same thing happens in relationships. You can establish a relationship with another person, and share your life with them, but you come to feel alone. It is loneliness in love.
We see in the miniseries people fully accompanied, but still feeling alone. They have sex, kiss, smile, feed their cats and watch vintage videos. There are betrayals, casual relationships, but also dissatisfaction, fear of coming out, breakups, and a constant search for love and happiness.
And from the point of view of the person who has stopped being loved: heartbreak opens up, something we must accept. Maybe the person we love stops loving us. And we must accept it. We can't force anyone to love us, and no matter how much it hurts us, we have to let them go their way. What is really important is that this breakup is as healthy as possible. If the person stops loving another, they must have enough courage and maturity to know how to end the relationship, without the other person suffering excessively from their indifference and emptiness.
One of the most heartbreaking moments, and most notable for its visual intensity, is a pure reflection of the loneliness shown through one of the protagonists, after having hot and explicit sex with his partner and another boy whom they invited to join in a threesome. . Four minutes of fixed camera on Sandino Martin, dancing alone to the beat of a melancholic melody, which defines the character's mood, on the record player, while he silently suffers his loneliness and drowns his sorrow in a solo dance, while moving the head repeatedly as a sign of boredom, dissatisfaction, sadness, lack of love and frustration. In the next room lies his lover, on the bed still burning from the heat of the naked bodies, who is deciding to abandon him so that he can be with the person he loves, who could very well be the person who formed the group a few moments ago. sexual theme.
The entire scene is being "observed", as a witness, by the poster for 'Unfried', a film directed by Joselito Altarejos himself in 2014, which also talks about the loneliness, anguish and obsession of a 15-year-old gay teenager. with social networks and how the viewer is taken on a nightmarish journey with the film's hero, David (Sandino Martin himself), whom Jonathan, his lover, abandoned just before Christmas, and turns to the screens of his cell phone, iPad and computer in a desperate attempt to prolong her connection, also lonely, with the boy she loves.
Joaquín, as the character is called, has seen how his love for the boy who sleeps next to him has withered. We don't know the reason, but one of the parties has lost interest in the other person, and is emotionally distancing themselves from them, making their counterpart notice the emptiness and loneliness. It is at that moment when the paths of both fork and go in opposite directions.
Through monologues rather than dialogues, we can see how often a person's own emotional wounds are the reason why they can isolate themselves from others, as well as the fact that there is nothing so painful to experience. how the loved person distances himself from us, and thus we experience his total indifference. Loving and not being loved is one of the most terrible life experiences. Loneliness in love generates very deep wounds in the soul.
In addition to the cinematographic style, the film also stands out for its soundtrack. In short, one of the most interesting series about loneliness in love in recent years and that defines the behaviors and situations of many people today.
What can be learned from this story? A heartbreaking image is shown of young people who, in reality, only want stability, but circumstances have gone against their wishes and, in this way, they find themselves in a state of loneliness that, combined with sadness and pain from the loss of love, make 'Lonely Connections' a visually captivating story.