Common Sense Media Review
By JK Sooja
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Young couple make a love contract; language, drinking.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
An Inconvenient Love
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In AN INCONVENIENT LOVE, Ayef (Belle Mariano) is looking to make a career for herself in animation. Hopefully, she'll soon go to school in Singapore, leaving her parents and their tumultuous marriage behind. The last thing on her mind is love, especially because it has burned her before. But then she meets Manny (Donny Pangilinan), a seemingly wonderful, cute, and caring person who really likes her. What is she to do?
Is It Any Good?
This romcom is a mixed bag. The good is that the film really cares about its lead characters, giving them lots of time to shine, treating them with patience, and showing how they fall into each other, despite whatever other plans they may have. But the bad is that this care makes An Inconvenient Love too long. This story could have been a miniseries or short episode series, given how many little side moments happen with each lead's friends and family.
The other problem is that while Ayef and Manny are young adults with dreams and lives just about to start, the film's tone feels entirely cutesy and incredibly safe. From the beginning, there is no confusion about where it will go, where Ayef and Manny will end up, and whether or not they will be together in the end. Further, the ending is incredibly confusing. Right after one of them admits their love (which, also, has already happened plenty of times earlier), the other cries as if the opposite has happened. Thus the "conflict" at the end amounts to this moment of rupture between the two, but again, it isn't clear why it happens. It isn't a miscommunication or disagreement or misalignment of timing. It simply just doesn't make any sense.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about romance and humor in romantic comedies. Was the romance in An Inconvenient Love worthy of falling for? Why, or why not?
Why do you think Manny fell in love with Ayef? When do you think it happened?
Do you think the love contract Ayef and Manny agreed to was a good idea? Why, or why not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : February 23, 2023
- Cast : Belle Mariano , Donny Pangilinan , Tirso Cruz III , JC Alcantara
- Director : Petersen Vargas
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Romance
- Run time : 124 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : April 25, 2023
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