Movie Review: Love You To The Stars And Back

Aliens. Cancer. Roadtrip. Love. Family. Chicken. Haha. It may seem a lot, but Love You To The Stars And Back was an outstanding concoction of wonderful things and it was impressive how the film managed to fuse all of that to something cohesive and effective. It was familiar and charming and funny and poignant and somber and delicate and beautiful, all at the same time.

The narrative drew me completely in and kept me emotionally engaged, the writing was of the highest quality with masterfully fleshed out characters that I genuinely cared about, the impeccable spikes of humor added some dynamics, the direction was brilliant, and the dialogues were witty and emotional without being schmaltzy.

Lending depth and weight to the seamless storytelling and incredible writing were Julia Barretto and Joshua Garcia, who delivered some of the best performances I've seen this year. I'm not even kidding. Julia was effortlessly charming throughout most of the film, and she ended up displaying her range halfway through with some meaty punch in the dramatic and emotional scenes. Joshua Garcia, on the other hand, was sensational. The sheer mastery of nuance, control, expression, and projection reminded me so much of John Lloyd Cruz and it was glorious. He particularly stood out on raw and emotionally-charged sequences that most of the time left me with a lump on my throat, but his comedic timing was also on point. Oh, and yes, their chemistry together was extremely palpable.

It felt real. It felt authentic. It made me walk away feeling like I've just watched a highly personal story, and not a work of fiction. No, Love You To The Stars And Back didn't deliver everything to become the best movie EVER, it did, however, send a grown man to tears and kilig and back.. to tears again. And it may or may not be me. Haha. WATCH IT!