With never before seen photos from the MEGA digital cover shoot of Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, we dissect why Hello, Love, Again tugs our heartstrings for its stories about love
In 2019, a film was born that offered both its cast and the audience so much promise—Hello, Love, Goodbye. The movie felt like a vow to one’s dream to keep committing to it; to work hard for families even at the expense of your own happiness. But the film also held the word’s other definition—potential. There was the open ended story of Joy and Ethan, but the most promising of it all was the partnership of Kapamilya and Kapuso actors Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, respectively. Five years later, the sequel Hello, Love, Again closed a chapter and indeed upheld a promise.
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Of chance and choice
While the reunion of Joy and Ethan in the present time felt a little too contrived, it’s the acting prowess of the two actors that saved the scene. Kathryn’s eyes carried a questioning look, while Alden glimmered of hope—they made it look like a trick of the universe, believable and fateful. Mastering the art of comedic timing, Joross Gamboa who played Jhim answered the quiet question of the audience—yes, they’re exes now.
With its parallelisms and flashbacks from the first film and the flashbacks of the sequel, Hello, Love, Again felt like reuniting in the flesh with a relative you’d always been connected to despite the distance. The cuts from the present to the past and back were executed with thought and not out of whim to add more sequences or minutes to the movie; if anything, they added more sentimental value especially during the film’s final resolution. There’s also that opposite play in the dialogue—”I don’t love you.”
(Re)meeting Joy, Marie, and Ethan
Much as Hello, Love, Goodbye was Joy’s world and Ethan entering it, so was Hello, Love, Again. The proud Ethan from the past made choices—firm, although questionable and impractical. This time around, portraying him as a character who had no choice but to accept things carried over even in his relationship with Joy. It was endearing up close, but it felt like he was still the same Ethan whose life started to make sense only with his lover in the picture. Nevertheless, Alden Richards’ portrayal gave justice to his role. He gave what was asked, making us root for his character to be a wiser and better man as we knew he could be one.
In the sequel, the tagline is “Joy is gone.” So, we met Marie—polished and refined from Calgary’s air, but still as gritty as ever. Even though Kathryn’s character was remembered for her line, “Ang choice ay para lang sa mga mayayaman,” we would see in Hello, Love, Again how she worked hard until she found a way to be able to make choices—stay in Canada or move to New York; and even pursue her career or go home to Ethan. While the ending was a turn that made both Ethan and Joy happy, it was more of a win for the latter. She was in control, and she was now making choices for herself.
The Again in Hello, Love, Again
Just like its predecessor, Hello, Love, Again could still be commended for its portrayal of finding one’s place and identity as an Overseas Filipino Worker: the clamor for cash jobs as a starting employee, the warmth of Filipino communities, and those moments of displacement as a migrant worker. One of the most endearing scenes from the whole film was Joy/Marie looking for a friend—there’s a different hit of loneliness, a search of home despite the growing familiarity of a new place and its people. The change in Ethan might still feel passive, yet his character development was there—executed quietly, making it all the more effective. Even the desperation of Baby, Jennica Garcia’s character, was familiar, too; in a foreign place, you could never be too trusting or trustworthy. For her portrayal alone, and with Garcia’s background, she could have been given more scenes.
The ending of Hello, Love, Again was the classic move of producer-writer Carmi Raymundo and director Cathy Garcia-Sampana—happy, homey, and heartfelt. It made sense for two characters who, at the end of the day, were really on the search for home however they wanted to define it for themselves and with others at play. Did the sequel give justice to Hello, Love, Again? One could say that it did what a follow-up movie had to do—continue a story whether it was a look from the past, into the present, or in the in-between.
Two of the best things about the movie were first, the depiction of the pandemic realities—the literal isolation and cabin fever, making choices even in a global crisis that limited you from deciding things, and the realization of priorities. Second was of course, the KathDen tandem—relentlessly bonded this time around both on and off-screen. Though their partnership could be classified as relatively new—two movies in as of writing—it’s not hard to root for them as they would meet each other halfway in every scene.
Hello, Love, Again was a revisitation to the stories of Joy and Ethan, one that brimmed with familiarity to someone who’s Filipino, a lover, and a dreamer. It carried a message of hoping for better days, fulfilling promises, and going on—one that we all need from time to time. In the words of Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye, “When love arrives, say, ‘Welcome, make yourself comfortable!’ If love leaves, ask her to let the door open behind her, turn off the music; listen to the quiet, whisper—thank you for stopping by.”
Photographed by JUSTIN REYES
