"Hello, Love, Again" in Indonesia

The movie “Hello, Love, Again” is being shown here in Indonesia until this Friday, January 24. It started last week, January 17, and is only playing here for a week. Contrary to its long queues while it was showing in the Philippines and other countries, it received a lukewarm response here in Jakarta.

For one, it comes a bit too late here. Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards had already signed off from their Joy and Ethan characters before 2024 ended. Indonesia is also not a market for Filipino romantic movies. Plus, there was no marketing presence before the showing of the movie.

I watched the movie with my husband to support a Filipino film showing where we live. I was not really aware of the plot except that it is a love story between two Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). The hype about Kathryn’s and Alden’s chemistry also made me curious to watch the movie while we had a chance, anyway.

But what I expected to be a feel-good romantic movie between two big stars turned out to be a two-hour discomfort for me.

The movie took off from the 2019 film “Hello, Love, Goodbye” starring the same actors. It was a huge hit so it was no wonder the sequel “Hello, Love, Again” became a blockbuster as well. It cemented the formidable team-up of Bernardo and Richards.

Struggles of Filipinos in Canada

The movie shows the visual details of the struggles of Filipinos in Canada, particularly of Filipino caregivers. I don’t know about you but as the story and (especially) the visuals unfolded, I became uncomfortable. Too realistic perhaps that it hurts? And all the caregivers in the nursing home are all Filipinos. Are caregivers in a nursing home all Filipinos in real-life in Canada? For practical reasons, the movie is just using all Filipino actors?

Of course, not all Filipinos are taking the caregiver route. This makes them a minority among the minority in a different country.

But then, this movie is not about them. This movie reaches out to emotions and aspires to be relatable to the majority… at the risk of profiling.

And then again, Filipinos have always been boxed in a certain profile.

Sad reality.

*************************************************************

For more about expat living, you can follow me on any of my social media accounts:

For blog updates, make sure to fill this out so you are automatically subscribed: