‘About Us But Not About Us’ REVIEW: How a scandal hooks an audience
‘About Us But Not About Us’ REVIEW: How a scandal hooks an audience
Ericson and Lance in About Us But Not About Us. Still taken from the Official Trailer.
Jun Lana’s psychological drama About Us But Not About Us is a complicated topic of discussion as the film might not appeal to some audiences. It tells the story of literary professor Ericson (Romnick Sarmenta) and his student Lance (Elijah Canlas), two gay men who meet in a restaurant and uncover secrets of the former’s late partner, Marcus, who has committed suicide. This is not just the story of a mentor and his mentee but also the story of two artists with differing perspectives on the same subject.
Ultimately, the pair having different perspectives is the most interesting part about their dynamic because it shows how, even if the two could be generalized to be similar in terms of their field of interest and sexuality, are very different because of the environments they grew up in. This story is not about two individuals with similar pasts but rather two individuals who cross paths in the present.
On the other hand, what weakens the plot as a whole are the characters as individuals — where the dialogue for the first half of the film sounded like a stereotype of writers, enough to offend both writers and non-writers just because of how difficult it was to listen to. Admittedly, if the film didn’t have such a strong element of scandal or mystery, then its dialogue really could have killed its quality. This stereotypical dialogue could have been more believable if there were some undeniable passion exhibited in the mentor or his mentee, but this was not the case, when their goals as independent writers felt quite shallow and not fueled by passion.
As a queer person myself, although I understand I cannot speak for the entire community, there generally should be more caution with how queer characters are depicted. We need more films, especially if these were to be the ones showcased in reputable festivals, that have more humanized stories for their queer characters. Overall, a psychological thriller about people with unrealistic demeanors does not feel relatable to me at all.
This film is great for its technicalities and is a good candidate for the awards it has received for its production design, editing, and cinematography. However, it falls short with its story, as it feels like a localized version of Western mainstream entertainment dependent on scandal.
About Us But Not About Us was screened as part of the IdeaFirst Film Festival.
