‘Kahit Ayaw Mo Na’ review: Weaving nothing out of something

Oggs Cruz

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‘Kahit Ayaw Mo Na’ review: Weaving nothing out of something
'Kahit Ayaw Mo' Na is just a dull film

Images of weaving open Bona Fajardo’s Kahit Ayaw Mo Na.

A narrator then announces the significance of the images through a statement about how life is essentially woven, with its elements supposedly merging by fate to form some sort of pattern. At this juncture, the audience can only expect Fajardo’s film to unfold like elegantly spun tapestry, with interesting characters whose serendipitous meeting will result in some irresistible romance.

Unmet expectations

The expectations are sadly never met.

Kahit Ayaw Mo Na exposes its lack of ambition very early on as it stumbles to introduce the trio whose lives will inevitably intersect while vacationing in Samar. Essentially, 3 girls – designer Joey (Empress Schuck), travel vlogger Mikee (Kristel Fulgar), and aspiring composer Ally (Andrea Brillantes) – who share a past they have yet to know, befriend each other while trying to do their respective businesses, whether it be trying to fix the relationship with a long-time boyfriend (Daniel Matsunaga) as in Joey’s case, or helping a Japanese friend (Kuya Sawa) discover his lineage in Mikee’s case. or stomach growing up with unmarried parents.

Throughout all the intentional and unintentional disarray, truths are revealed and emotions are provoked. However, the truths and the emotions that the film centers on are just grossly uninteresting.

Fajardo makes the rookie mistake of thinking that an abundance of drone shots over picturesque vistas, a bit of visual gloss, a syrupy score, and a slew of unnecessary side stories would give his film an appearance of more substance and sophistication. He is very wrong. Kahit Ayaw Mo Na ends up so unfocused and so convoluted that watching it feels more like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle that is missing more than a few pieces. The film just never reveals a complete and satisfying picture.

SAMAR. The movie is shot in parts of Samar

Haphazardly woven mat

What’s worse is that Kahit Ayaw Mo Na, which imagines itself to be a romance, is as romantic as a haphazardly woven mat.

It thinks that it is beautiful and affecting but is actually quite grotesque. There are so many loose ends and characters that not only fail to contribute to the central storyline but also expose how random the entire venture is. There is a certain kind of spontaneity that is cinematic, but the spontaneity that Fajardo’s film thrives on is as insignificant as it is baffling. It is almost as if the film was more interested in filling itself with so much content and characters that it ultimately fails to make any kind of sense.

It would help the film if the performances were fine, or at the very least charming. Sadly, Kahit Ayaw Mo Na is also lacking in that department. Schuck, Fulgar and Brillantes simply fail to connect, either with each other or the men they are forced to pretend to have relationships with.

Fajardo also comes up with the absurd idea that Allan Paule and Desiree del Valle can convince as a romantic couple. Sadly, the audacious pairing only castrates the only romantic element of the film that could have worked. All the attempts of the film to push for a really alluring love story end up derailed by questionable casting or narrative decisions or simply uninspired performances.

JOURNEY. Joey (Empress) goes through a journey while in Samar.

Dull film

Kahit Ayaw Mo Na is just a dull film.

It is clear that there are spores of ideas that are just waiting to be developed from the strands of plot that comprise the film. However, everything is just wasted. The film is literally proof that one can weave absolutely nothing out of something. – Rappler.com

 

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ Tirad Pass.

Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.

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