ALONE/TOGETHER: a journey together, but going it alone – a movie review
“Hindi ko na kilala ang sarili ko. I should be dreaming, conquering the world.” – Christine
Upon arrival at the cinema, I couldn’t help but notice a small group of girls, excited to watch the movie as the trailers come rushing in. There were the occasional squeals and the movie hasn’t even started yet – my eyes narrow a bit, this must be the Lizquen fans as I shift my attention back to the screen.
“Alone/Together,” is directed by Antoinette Jadaone and produced by Black Sheep productions. It revolves around the life of Christine (Liza Soberano) an arts student and Raf (Enrique Gil) a pre-med student. Their paths cross after a museum visit and friendly argument on the Spolarium painting (fun fact: Spolarium was supposed to be the original title for the film). From there, an early break up surrounds the couple when harsh reality hits them.
This movie nips at the heart and mind of a young college student, someone who is at the crossroads of deciding where life may take them and all the other excess baggage that comes with it, be it past breakups, failing grades, rejection and whatnot.
A Jadaone film from the likes of “That Thing Called Tadhana,” “You’re My Boss” and “Never Not Love You” all centers not on the love team, but the single journey of the main characters and certainly Alone/Together does just that.
The audience joins the journey of Liza as Christine who was once an aspiring art student, who wanted to change the world one museum at a time. Enrique’s character, Raf meanwhile wants to graduate no matter how long it takes. Obviously their destinies took a turn.
Soberano has revealed another layer to her acting, exhibiting maturity and embodying her character from start to finish. She carries heavy and emotional scenes like they were her own struggles and this role will definitely open up new doors for her. Gil, who already developed his signature style of acting given the diversity of roles that he had already played, served as a guiding hand for Soberano, helping their characters develop throughout the movie.
The social media frenzy of the issue of romanticizing cheating is overrated and completely overlooked the real message of the film which was the character development of Soberano’s character, Christine. The process that Christine went through from being a lively soul to forcing herself to mature and then finding herself and planning her future.
One thing to note about the movie was that it served as a teaser for the Philippine audience to the local art scene with Soberano’s character who was an art student. They showed the PICC, National Museum and also local artists who cameos in the film.
The movie could have featured more local artists and their work instead of going to the US and presenting the work of foreign artists, I feel they could have had a scene where Soberano’s character presented the works of local artists to make the audience aware of the importance of our art scene and not just a mere Instagram worthy post or background.
Alone/Together will definitely give you a fresh look for the Lizquen love team but more importantly, it shows that you are the only one who will be able to decide what your future will be and the sacrifices that you have to make in order to achieve that goal.
This movie will uplift your spirits, tells you that everything is going to be alright, but nothing is going to move forward unless you do something about it.
By: Katrina Gonzales
