niso2020
Germany
This review may contain spoilers
An entertaining series with an extraordinary bunch of talented actors
Before I start nagging about this and that, let me say that I liked this series. The basic idea of the story is quite unique in the world of BL, the series is entertaining, well produced and directed, and the cast feels like a huge gathering of talent.
Okay, let's get into detail.
The plot. Partygirl Charlene (Angel Grace America) is bored of her life in Manila and returns to a seaside resort owned by her parents. After two nights of excessive drinking she is punished by the ”Fairy Godmother” who puts a spell on her which will only end when Charlene meets her true love. The next morning she wakes up in a male body (JC Lopez). Irritatingly, she/he is the only one who remembers that he used to be a girl.
I won't spoil here all the love interests and the frustrations, misunderstandings, cheats, and disasters of the young people's relationships, but I have to say that the series suffers from two failures: first of all, it is too long so that it becomes repetitive sometimes, especially in the middle episodes, where one unrequited love chases the next, and the plot doesn't move forward at all.
Second, there are too many characters with similar stories which eat up a lot of screentime that would have been better invested in giving the main characters more background. For example it is hard to say who is employed at the resort, and who's a guest, because all the young people seem to have a lot of time spreading drama or playing at the beach. It is a nice plot twist to have Charlie/Charlene's twin sister Dollie (Angel Grace America again) return from the US, but it takes countless episodes until the viewer gets a clue why Charlie hates her.
The series is a comedy, but there are some beautiful serious scenes, too – more about that in the acting section below. I won't spoil the details of the ending here – just so much: there are happy endings for almost all of the characters, and a little scene after the credits of the final episode leaves some space for speculation whether the story has not been told to the end, so a season 2 seems possible (and desirable, if you ask me).
Production, setting, and directing. For a low budget series, the production is quite good. Cinematography and sound are better than in many other Pinoy low budget series. The series is almost exclusively set in the seaside resort which in itself is beautiful, as are the drone flights across the neighborhood, but it wouldn't have been too expensive to shoot some scenes at a market in a nearby village or on a farm for a change.
Ambo Jacinto has already proven that he is a good director who has a talent of encouraging his actors to display the best of their skills. In his short film ”Lihim”, Kaleb Ong and David Revilla personify their characters so brilliantly that they made me cry, and the HIV drama ”Red Tag”, again starring Kaleb Ong, had me glued to the screen although it isn't subtitled. In MFLS he manages to make his actors display joy as well as sadness, superficiality as well as deepness – more about the acting in the next section.
Cast and acting. I don't know what to mention first – the incredible talent of all the cast, or their cuteness. It is impossible to mention the special talents and skills of all the actors involved, and at the same time it is unfair to praise only a few of them, so let me first say that the complete cast, from the lead actors to the smallest support roles, are really good. Although it is unfair, let me mention four of them in particular.
JC Lopez is incredible in playing a girl in a man's body. He is never OTT, but often conveys in little gestures and expressions that he feels weird and uneasy. The way he dances is one of the highlights of the show that made me laugh and at the same time admire him for the way he expresses that he feels being caught in the wrong body - although he learns to like being a man more and more.
I have praised Kaleb Ong in several of my reviews, and once again he sets some highlights in this show. Since his stunning performance in ”Meet my Angel 1 and 2”, he has played IMO in the Premier League of Pinoy BL actors, on one level with Elijah Canlas, Kokoy de Santos, and Rex Lantano. Although he ”only” plays a support role in this series, he is the boss as soon as he enters the stage.
I was also surprised by Orly Mejia. I thought he was casted for the show because of his good looks, but he is a good actor, too, which I hope he'll be able to show in a lead role in the upcoming series ”Tie the Not”.
The person who surprised me the most is Mar Soriano as Hershey. Whereas she acted totally OTT in other productions, here she is the wise love doctor, and the scenes where she advises the desperate young men are among the most moving of the show. They are very well written, brilliantly acted and spread serious messages to the characters as well as to the viewers.
I said before it would be unfair to mention only four of the actors here, so let me repeat that all of them did a great job. The problem of their large number is that a great actor like David Revilla only gets a handful of short scenes.
Vic Robinson deserves a special mention for his courage and skill to perform a live song, when in most other series actors only move their lips to pre-recorded music.
Management and promotion. This is a problem. Only very few episodes gained more than 30,000 views on youtube, and thus only about a tenth of other Pinoy low budget series whose directing, editing, and acting were far worse (I won't mention any particular names here, but if you take a look at my other reviews, you'll know what I mean). This must be very disappointing for the producers, and I don't know how the production can ever be profitable this way. One of the reasons is that the series came literally out of nowhere – even I only found it by mere coincidence. So the company should hire a promotion expert if they want to keep producing movies.
Another problem is that the episodes were split into two parts. This would have made sense if it had meant that there were commercials played twice, but usually no commercials were played at all. The net content of an average episode adds up to about 24 minutes, but intros and credits of the two parts expand it to unbelievable 34 minutes. On the other hand, the intro being played twice per episode meant that we got to see JC Lopez dancing twice a week, and that was almost worth it,
What was really good was the director and actors' interaction with viewers during the premieres. If they had promoted the series more actively on social media before it aired, I am sure it would have attracted many more viewers, which it would have deserved.
All in all I can say that MFLS is an entertaining series with an extraordinary bunch of talented actors, and despite minor flaws it is worth watching.
Okay, let's get into detail.
The plot. Partygirl Charlene (Angel Grace America) is bored of her life in Manila and returns to a seaside resort owned by her parents. After two nights of excessive drinking she is punished by the ”Fairy Godmother” who puts a spell on her which will only end when Charlene meets her true love. The next morning she wakes up in a male body (JC Lopez). Irritatingly, she/he is the only one who remembers that he used to be a girl.
I won't spoil here all the love interests and the frustrations, misunderstandings, cheats, and disasters of the young people's relationships, but I have to say that the series suffers from two failures: first of all, it is too long so that it becomes repetitive sometimes, especially in the middle episodes, where one unrequited love chases the next, and the plot doesn't move forward at all.
Second, there are too many characters with similar stories which eat up a lot of screentime that would have been better invested in giving the main characters more background. For example it is hard to say who is employed at the resort, and who's a guest, because all the young people seem to have a lot of time spreading drama or playing at the beach. It is a nice plot twist to have Charlie/Charlene's twin sister Dollie (Angel Grace America again) return from the US, but it takes countless episodes until the viewer gets a clue why Charlie hates her.
The series is a comedy, but there are some beautiful serious scenes, too – more about that in the acting section below. I won't spoil the details of the ending here – just so much: there are happy endings for almost all of the characters, and a little scene after the credits of the final episode leaves some space for speculation whether the story has not been told to the end, so a season 2 seems possible (and desirable, if you ask me).
Production, setting, and directing. For a low budget series, the production is quite good. Cinematography and sound are better than in many other Pinoy low budget series. The series is almost exclusively set in the seaside resort which in itself is beautiful, as are the drone flights across the neighborhood, but it wouldn't have been too expensive to shoot some scenes at a market in a nearby village or on a farm for a change.
Ambo Jacinto has already proven that he is a good director who has a talent of encouraging his actors to display the best of their skills. In his short film ”Lihim”, Kaleb Ong and David Revilla personify their characters so brilliantly that they made me cry, and the HIV drama ”Red Tag”, again starring Kaleb Ong, had me glued to the screen although it isn't subtitled. In MFLS he manages to make his actors display joy as well as sadness, superficiality as well as deepness – more about the acting in the next section.
Cast and acting. I don't know what to mention first – the incredible talent of all the cast, or their cuteness. It is impossible to mention the special talents and skills of all the actors involved, and at the same time it is unfair to praise only a few of them, so let me first say that the complete cast, from the lead actors to the smallest support roles, are really good. Although it is unfair, let me mention four of them in particular.
JC Lopez is incredible in playing a girl in a man's body. He is never OTT, but often conveys in little gestures and expressions that he feels weird and uneasy. The way he dances is one of the highlights of the show that made me laugh and at the same time admire him for the way he expresses that he feels being caught in the wrong body - although he learns to like being a man more and more.
I have praised Kaleb Ong in several of my reviews, and once again he sets some highlights in this show. Since his stunning performance in ”Meet my Angel 1 and 2”, he has played IMO in the Premier League of Pinoy BL actors, on one level with Elijah Canlas, Kokoy de Santos, and Rex Lantano. Although he ”only” plays a support role in this series, he is the boss as soon as he enters the stage.
I was also surprised by Orly Mejia. I thought he was casted for the show because of his good looks, but he is a good actor, too, which I hope he'll be able to show in a lead role in the upcoming series ”Tie the Not”.
The person who surprised me the most is Mar Soriano as Hershey. Whereas she acted totally OTT in other productions, here she is the wise love doctor, and the scenes where she advises the desperate young men are among the most moving of the show. They are very well written, brilliantly acted and spread serious messages to the characters as well as to the viewers.
I said before it would be unfair to mention only four of the actors here, so let me repeat that all of them did a great job. The problem of their large number is that a great actor like David Revilla only gets a handful of short scenes.
Vic Robinson deserves a special mention for his courage and skill to perform a live song, when in most other series actors only move their lips to pre-recorded music.
Management and promotion. This is a problem. Only very few episodes gained more than 30,000 views on youtube, and thus only about a tenth of other Pinoy low budget series whose directing, editing, and acting were far worse (I won't mention any particular names here, but if you take a look at my other reviews, you'll know what I mean). This must be very disappointing for the producers, and I don't know how the production can ever be profitable this way. One of the reasons is that the series came literally out of nowhere – even I only found it by mere coincidence. So the company should hire a promotion expert if they want to keep producing movies.
Another problem is that the episodes were split into two parts. This would have made sense if it had meant that there were commercials played twice, but usually no commercials were played at all. The net content of an average episode adds up to about 24 minutes, but intros and credits of the two parts expand it to unbelievable 34 minutes. On the other hand, the intro being played twice per episode meant that we got to see JC Lopez dancing twice a week, and that was almost worth it,
What was really good was the director and actors' interaction with viewers during the premieres. If they had promoted the series more actively on social media before it aired, I am sure it would have attracted many more viewers, which it would have deserved.
All in all I can say that MFLS is an entertaining series with an extraordinary bunch of talented actors, and despite minor flaws it is worth watching.
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