alike.com.ph—James Reid and Nadine Lustre’s new film “Never Not Love You,” premiered back in March 31, 2018, but the film still goes strong in cinemas today. It tells the story of Joanne, an aspiring marketing manager, and Gio, a struggling artist, as they try to handle their relationship while keeping up with their respective careers. The movie presents the trials and tribulations of romance against the real world, particularly for those in long-distance relationships. It also gives the moviegoers a very human and straightforward look at how difficult it is to love someone who has different goals, aspirations, and opportunities.
Writer and director of the film, Antoinette Jadaone, admitted that she and her team researched a lot to create their realistic main characters, Gio and Joanne. “We based them a bit off of James (Reid) and Nadine (Lustre) as they’re the same age as their characters. We also interviewed couples with long-distance relationships, artists based in London and tattoo artists here.” Jadaone shared.
Apart from the characters, their story on finding and staying in love is what makes the film a painfully accurate depiction of relationships. “Love is what happens when the romance fades,” explained Jadaone. She confessed that she was nervous as to whether Filipino audiences will embrace a movie set in the gritty side of Metro Manila, where the actors aren’t as glamorized and made-up and a lot of cursing in the dialogue. She’s relieved to know that they are open-minded to them, especially considering it earned ₱20 million on its first weekend alone.
Another part of the film Jadaone was worried about was the open ending. It was a scene where one would expect more dialogue would be involved, but it was only a character’s change of expression and then it faded to black. The director noted that she’d received diverse reactions regarding the ending. “I have friends who are in a relationship who interpreted it one way and others who’ve been single since birth interpret it a totally different way,” stated Jadaone.
Furthermore, there were also little moments in the film that shed light on social issues that are relevant to overseas Filipino workers today,. One such was when Joanne, Lustre’s character, was crying outside the London restaurant where she worked as a waitress. Her black co-worker Harry sympathized with her, telling her that he also faced prejudice because of his skin color, even though he was born and raised in the UK. These kinds of scenes are often absent in Filipino films, especially mainstream romantic comedies.
“Never Not Love You.” presents what it’s really like to love someone in this day and age. It shows all the drama that comes with maintaining a relationship amidst reaching your goals and handling your own careers. It stars James Reid and Nadine Lustre, as well as written and directed by Antoinette Jadaone.
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