Fan Girl

I started watching this with no expectations on Netflix and I was glad I gave it a chance because it plays on the craziness of human emotions when life gives us all of our human challenges to mould us.

Fan girl won Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Sound in the recently concluded 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival Awards Night. Charlie Dizon plays an obsessed fan of a "deconstructed" version of Paulo Avelino, who after spending a day together finds out what it's like to be in the presence of her idol.

So, does the movie deserve all the awards it received? It seems like a runaway winner based on what you can read about it out there, but if we're being honest the MMFF really isn't the barometer of good movies (I mean the comedy trio of Janno Gibbs, Dennis Padilla and Andrew E has an entry, peak proof how crazy 2020 was,) but Tonette Jadaone has enough success under her belt to deserve the win for Director and Screenplay. Was Fan Girl the strongest in the MMFF? Probably. Was it the strongest among her body of work? Not necessarily. Cinematography was good, the meadow created detachment from the world and was scary at night, but full of life at light. Sound was uninspired, although it did the trick to stir up the emotions needed per scene.

Dizon did well as the obsessed fan Jane, and it helped that they picked a relatively unknown actress to add to the mystery. We have seen many crazy fans, but she made Jane her own. It also worked in their favor that she wasn't treated like a star (she didn't have her own tent) and spent most of the time with the people behind the scenes as most extras and fans would. As for Avelino, the Hollywood formula of making yourself ugly to get an award worked for him and he's believable for the most part but there were some scenes where he breaks character and we see him acting. I get why there was an enormous amount of cuss words uttered but it was too excessive that it became a crutch for him, where he had to say bad words so he can become "mean." A scene that also did not seem organic was when they were exchanging their personal stories. It felt forced and lacked synergy, it didn't feel like they were working together, it felt like they had to read their lines at each other.

We're only being critical because Fan Girl deserve the high expectations we've set. It's still a good watch and if you are to take away anything from the movie, it's that you can put your idols on a pedestal but learn when to bring them down. Because the saying is true: Never meet your Heroes. You'll only end up disappointed. In addition, if you noticed the subtle hints in the movie, maybe don't make them your President as well.

I was dubious at the first two acts. I was constantly wondering about all the fuss on the leads' acting when all I could get is excessive cursing, beers, and cigarettes, and even drug use. I mean nothing spectacular is happening, just the fan girl's yearning and delusions.

But then the third act came, and it's like all the message it has were unpacked all of a sudden. When her eyes got opened on the situation she found herself in, so were the viewers. You could clearly feel her emotions. Charlie Dizon's acting is superb! She better win best actress for this!

In the end, this is a film about one's realization of self-worth, of transformation and empowerment. You'd feel weirded out about some scenes, it even went to some extent that you'd feel uncomfortable watching it, but this is the kind of film we need. It's daring yet beautiful.

The first few parts of the movie is kind of weird, with all the maladaptive daydreaming of Jane and the excessive use of beers, cigs and profane words, but past that is what make Fan Girl a great movie. It's a metaphor of how a person escapes her reality with her fantasy but realizing that you can't escape the real world. It also shows how blind fanaticism and passionate support to a personality can affect a person's judgment. The acting is superb. We all know that Paulo Avelino is great, but Charlie Dizon is something else. She portrays Jane perfectly and her acting is on the same level as her co-star.

The scenes together with the acting was perfectly amazing, the concept of the story was actually good as well, it's just that in the later part of the movie on my perspective, though I understand the ending it still lacks in execution.