That ‘quarantine’ films, not in terms of theme, but more as a type of restricted approach towards the medium, still come out, is a surprise to me, since I felt that there is no point to have such restrictions now that lockdowns are not enforced. Nevertheless, either because not all of them managed to find a release during the period, or finish shooting due to the lockdown, or because its impact still carries on, we are still seeing a number of them. “When This is All Over”, Kevin Mayuga‘s debut, is definitely one of those films.
When This is All Over is screening at New York Asian Film Festival
Disconnected from the world and experiencing the first psychological consequences of the lockdown, The Guy tries to make money by selling drugs in order to flee the Philippines and go to the US where his mother already is. At some point, he finds a group of well-connected, privileged youths his age, who, apart from asking a good amount of drugs from him, are also trying to throw an illegal party with their friends, and are in search of a venue. When The Guy finds out that they have connections to the US Embassy, he offers to help them plan the event in exchange for his way out of this country. In order to do so, he exploits the trust of the kind-hearted condominium staff Rosemarie, who has just become his friend. Expectedly, the consequences are dire, although not at the same level for everyone.
Despite some visual flair in individual sequences, as the ones in the club, the party, and the delirious, drug-inducing scenes, courtesy of DP Martika Ramirez Escobar, the visuals of the movie are definitely its most significant issue. Apart from the already restrictive setting of the condominium, the overall visual approach looks particularly low budget, occasionally almost as a home video production, which definitely becomes tiring to the eye after a point.
At the same time, the context is not on a particularly high level, with the main premise, of the rich spoilt kids exploiting the kindhearted poor who pay the consequence in the end being rather cliched. The fact that in the case of lockdowns even the rich found themselves in a binge is more interesting, but not to the point to save the whole thing. The naivety of the main protagonist and the interactions with the weed-growing ‘pal’ he eventually meets also move into cliched paths.
On the other hand, there are some redeeming values here. For starters, The Guy does emerge as quite cool in the end, despite his aforementioned shortcomings, additionally for his mother’s treatment towards him, which definitely draws sympathy. Furthermore, Juan Karlos Labajo plays the ‘teddy bear’ quite nicely, adding to the likeability of the character, also due to his own charisma. The same applies to Jorrybell Agoto as Rosemarie, whose feistiness and kind-heartedness is one of the best traits in the movie, along with her chemistry with Labajo. Truth be told, this is a relationship I feel the movie would definitely benefit if it moved it forward romantically, something that, unfortunately does not happen.
Maria Esteal Paiso’s editing results in a mid-tempo which suits the aesthetics of the movie, while finding its apogee in the ‘delirious’ scenes.
Although there are some redeeming qualities here, and some scenes that are visually convincing, as a whole, “When This Is All Over” does not work particularly well as a whole, for the reasons mentioned above but also due to the almost completely lack of tension.
