SANA DATI (2013)

Directed by Jerrold Tarog

Starring Lovi Poe, Paulo Avelino, Benjamin Alves, TJ Trinidad, Ria Garcia

A woman's wedding is thrown into disarray after a mysterious person shows up, reminding her of the man whom she really loves.

This was one of the indie films my classmates and I watched when we went to CCP during the Cinemalaya Film Festival. The first two movies we watched were Porno and The Diplomat Hotel, and they were both okay for different reasons. On the second day, we watched Sana Dati and Quick Change. When I found out that this was about a love story, I was not that excited to watch it. I'm not really into the romance genre of Filipino movies since they tend to be too cheesy or corny most of the time, but this one definitely surpassed my expectations.

I love this movie. There, I said it. This has got to be the only Filipino movie that I genuinely like. I did not expect this to be so depressing. I left the theater feeling empty, like I had no purpose in life anymore. I'm pretty sure my classmates felt the same. Remember when I said that I love sad movies because I love feeling sad and miserable? Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I love this film. Another reason is because this movie is literally perfection. The scoring was perfect. I literally couldn't stop listening to Indak by Up Dharma Down for weeks. I'm not even kidding. I listened to it almost everyday for about 3 weeks until I eventually got sick of it. The writing was perfect. There weren't any cheesy lines at all.  The cinematography was perfect. There were so many scenes where I was just like, wow that scene is diviiiiine. Every scene had perfect lighting and composition.  The acting was beyond perfect. I've never seen Lovi Poe in a film before but she blew me away. Literally. No, okay not literally but I'm sure you get what I mean. She was so, so good. And so were the supporting cast. No annoying, forced acting. They were natural and they did a really good job in portraying their characters.

I'm so glad they decided to release this film in cinemas nationwide. My classmates and I have actually been planning to watch it again. We love it that much, okay. I hope it'll still be showing after our finals. I rarely recommend Filipino movies (I'm sorry) but this one is definitely a must-watch!

Rating: ★★★★★