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| A screengrab from the 2019 early sleeper hit Alone Together from Black Sheep and director Antoinette Jadaone (Image Source: ABS-CBN News/Black Sheep) |
Mainstream
cinema in the Philippines has gone off to an interestingly bad start in the
first few months of 2019 following the box-office failures of the likes of
Hanggang Kailan, Elise and Bato: The Ronald Dela Rosa Story which captured the
attention of several veteran filmmakers questioning their reception from the
public eye. However, after a long battle of losses, a movie that is shown before
Valentines' Day would happen to break the literal losing streak and bring
viewers to cinemas beyond their own expectations and that would be Black
Sheep's Alone Together.
One
of ABS-CBN Films' freshly new subsidiaries has created and gained quite a
reputation in the Philippine movie scene after the surprising success of one of
2018's sleeper hits Exes Baggage which reunited the late 90s tandem of Carlo
Aquino and Angelica Panganiban. Now, Black Sheep did it again with the return
of the on and off screen love team of Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano to the big screens
helmed by no less than Antoinette Jadaone and its box-office gains in its first
week was well worth the wait for those who have watched it.
Alone
Together is a story about two former college sweethearts coming from two
different universities who have met again after five years and were reflecting
on their fond memories together at those times. Christine (Soberano), who once
dreamed of being a museum curator, ended up as a failure while Raf (Gil) became
an esteemed doctor serving the masses after being a nobody who never thought
that he would succeed. This intriguing story along with the overwhelming reviews
from various movie critics may be enough for one to see what happens next after
Christine and Raf meet again.
The
Filipino viewing audience were ecstatic about the film even before it was
released in more than 260 cinemas across the country and it was strongly
evidenced by its first official teaser which gained more than a million views
online in just 24 hours. Alone Together now holds the record of having the
biggest opening weekend for a Filipino movie after reaching the Php100 million
box-office gross mark in only three days, bringing local mainstream movies back
on the positive track and making movie buffs and critics more curious about its
success and how others before never gained enough traction.
Based
on the statement made by Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP)
chairperson Liza Diño in response to that of those who worry about the ailing
momentum of local mainstream movies, the success of a Filipino flick does not
depend solely on box-office sales alone. It may be at par with foreign films in
terms of quality and storytelling but it all depends on how will film producers
be able to make viewers gain interest and feel like they want to see how it goes
and I guess filmmakers should take lessons from the likes of Alone Together and
The Hows of Us. Curiosity aside, there is no doubt that the success of Alone
Together in the Philippine box office may just become the spark for any
fruitful year in local cinema.
