Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

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<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176671753116217667154005731764920629937All About Love You So Bad1.png (1).webp" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">“Love You So Bad&quot; directed by Mae Cruz-Alviar. <em>📷༘ Star Cinema</em></span></span></span></div><p style="text-align:left">MANILA — There is a specific kind of emotional whiplash that comes with opening day at the Metro Manila Film Festival.</p><p>I spent my 1:00 PM slot immersed in Jun Robles Lana’s “Call Me Mother,” a film defined by bold tonal shifts and lighting choices that flirt with beautiful excess. This is Vice Ganda at her most convincing. She finally receives the correct shaky camera treatment, enough to register her, unequivocally, as a serious actor.</p><p>Emerging from such an emotionally taxing experience, I found myself looking for a “banlaw,” a palate cleanser to wash away the intensity of a heavy meal.</p><p>By the 6:00 PM screening of “Love You So Bad,” the film served that purpose exactly. Directed by Mae Cruz-Alviar, this reimagining of the 1998 classic “Dahil Mahal na Mahal Kita” is a glossy departure from the familiar comforts of the genre.</p><p>However, the transition from the ‘90s source material to a Gen Z context feels breathless. There is a palpable sense of a production moving at a breakneck pace, resulting in a narrative that is frankly all over the place. Yet, the messiness might be the point.</p><p>The film feels like a middle finger to the expectation that every love story needs to be “decent” or wholesome. We’ve grown so used to the industry’s obsession with being demure that seeing unpolished characters curse and actually kiss on-screen feels like a minor rebellion. It’s a defiant move for a mainstream “love team” vehicle that suggests a desperate need to break away from the usual conservative baggage.</p><p>This refusal to be “polite” is embodied in Bianca De Vera’s Savannah. She’s cringey from start to finish, or at least that’s the initial impression. But stay with her long enough and you see the friction for what it really is: a young woman trying to shed societal expectations.</p><p>Her abrasive exterior is a shield against a world that demands she be soft, and De Vera plays that internal struggle with a grit that eventually wins you over.</p><p>Providing the anchor for this chaos is Will Ashley, whose screen presence is so undeniable that the room feels different the moment he appears. Fresh off a FAMAS nomination for “Balota,” Ashley brings a technical precision and quiet gravity to Vic that the script doesn&#x27;t always afford him. He possesses an understated energy that suggests he is capable of much more than a binary “principled achiever” archetype. He has this way of grounding the scene’s energy, which makes the stakes feel real even when the plot around him gets thin.</p><p>Between these two stands Dustin Yu, who remains one of the most misunderstood young celebrities in Philippine showbiz. The constant vitriol this love triangle receives from fanbases has created a high-pressure environment where every move is scrutinized. It’s as if the noise is preventing him from going all out. When the internet is waiting for you to fail, restraint becomes a survival mechanism.</p><p>There is potential here, though. While he clearly needs more polish acting-wise, you can see flashes of a performer who, given the right material and some breathing room, could genuinely shine.</p><p>“Love You So Bad” is a piece of fan service that prioritizes its core demographic over narrative cohesion. It’s clearly a rush job, but it at least tries to trade the usual sanitized tropes for something a bit more unfiltered. Even when the formula collapses under its own weight, the performances -- particularly Ashley’s -- suggest that this chaotic love triangle might still be worth watching unfold.</p><div><br/></div><div><em>This review was originally published in the author&#x27;s website </em><em>“<a href="https://www.walphs.com/2025/12/love-you-so-bad-movie-review-mmff.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawO6zUVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR6bjrEwOwU2XEEjqzO3WElWtsOxKGSapnpspfQ--URn1arolBhSN6Cl2eXKFw_aem_hXPTtHd9D0Q-Q5qHsDaA2A&amp;m=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WALPHS.com</a>.”</em></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CzxOtLmJbzg?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q9baOgVVbfA?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xvc50qvSq_U?&amp;pp=0gcJCU0KAYcqIYzvautoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>“Love You So Bad” tries to trade the usual sanitized tropes for something a bit more unfiltered.</p>

“Love You So Bad” tries to trade the usual sanitized tropes for something a bit more unfiltered.

MMFF review: Will Ashley anchors rebellious fan-service 'Love You So Bad'

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MMFF review: Will Ashley anchors rebellious fan-service 'Love You So Bad'

Ralph Revelar Sarza

Published December 26, 2025 11:01 AM PHT

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MMFF review

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Love You So Bad

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