Never doubt an independent romantic-drama flick’s power to squeeze out longing tears and urging reluctant smiles from a heart that screams for true affection. “Tayo sa Huling Buwan ng Taon,” the sequel to 2015’s “Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa,” exemplifies director Nestor Abrogena as a wizard in stirring emotions. Feelings are his film rolls carrying realist images of love that unites with real-life façades of Manila. Much like the jagged walls of the city’s architecture, the movie presents a love that craves for immediate rebuilding.
“Tayo sa Huling Buwan ng Taon” continues the story of Sam (Nicco Manalo) and Isa (Vera), five years after their break up. Now in the midst of their respective sweet romances, Sam enjoys life with Ana (Anna Luna) while Isa is with Frank (Alex Medina). The time apart from the two films draws supple distance to trace a fine-tuned sunset-tinged episode. “Tayo” sprawls with crisp tint: faded paint wrenching the heart in each shot.
Adapting his technical style from the first installment, lensman Abrogena still lays his scenes in extended motions to illustrate actual affections. Manalo also maintains his patented dewy-eyed antics, teetering between histrionic and seamless amenity. Jazzing up the movie is Medina who is delectably poignant, ending his turn of indulgent sequences into the beginning of Frank’s arc. It is evident there is more to his story, and it may well continue to a leading role or an irresistible spin-off. Speaking of which, Luna steals “Tayo” with a swell performance that lights up Abrogena’s frame just perfectly to shine the vintage-scaled sun on Vera’s Isa. The latter’s longing for Sam is palpable in a sequence where Vera swoons her tearful uncertainty over to him.
Sans the sodden tissues, “Tayo” is superior to its predecessor plus contains buckets of potential sub-plots for its own cinematic continuation. Let Filipino rock icon Gabby Alipe’s serenade linger until the credits roll and carry the reverie from the cracked walls of Escolta’s lattice to the graying clouds: where the sky meets expectations on the film.
Director: Nestor Abrogena
Trailer © TBA Studios; YouTube.com
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