Unbreakable explores a different kind of romance
THE STORY of “unbreakable” friendships is the crux of Unbreakable, the newest film from ABS-CBN Star Cinema which screens nationwide starting Nov. 27 and stars Bea Alonzo and Angelica Panganiban.
“Primarily this is a friendship movie… [this is] a story about the unconditional love between friends. Lately, we’ve had a lot of romance films [but this time] it’s about friendship. We haven’t seen that in a while,” Mae Cruz-Alviar, the film’s director told the media during a press conference on Nov. 20 at the ABS-CBN offices in Quezon City.
The film follows Mariel Salvador (played by Bea Alonzo) and Deena Yambao (Angelica Panganiban), who have been best friends since college. Their relationship gradually changes when they marry brothers Justin (Richard Guttierez) and Bene (Ian Veneracion) Saavedra as family obligations and a tragedy force them to re-evaluate the meaning of friendship.
“I just thought we do a lot of love stories but rarely do we see love stories that feature friendship. There are now more people who are single and choose to be single, and for those people who choose to be single I think the important relationship [they have] outside the family is friendship,” Ms. Cruz-Alviar said.
“I believe the break-up of a friendship can be just as devastating as a romantic relationship,” she added.
At several points during the press conference, Ms. Cruz-Alviar stated that while the film’s trailer may imply unfaithfulness as the main source of conflict in the film, it’s not a kabit (mistress) movie.
“It’s not what you think it is,” she said.
The film’s leads have wildly different personalities, Ms. Alonzo described her character as someone “who likes to fix people” while Ms. Panganiban said her character is someone “who is out to please everyone,” and while their personalities served as the backbone of their years-long friendship, how they change in reaction to what life throws at them is what will break their friendship.
“This is a story worth telling because all of us can relate: we all have friends,” the director said.
Unbreakable screens nationwide on Nov. 27. — ZBC