About Us but Not About Us (Filipino/English)

Conversational films are not easy to make. When you have minimal sets, just 2 actors and all they do is talking, most time a film can fall flat. But man! Was this film a very pleasant surprise or what? The film may sounds simple, so the narrative and story and the absolute brilliance of the two actors almost make this a psychological thriller. It is almost impossible to not be impressed by the direction of this well crafted simple yet engaging film where certain themes are explored with dignity, trust, sometimes horror, charm, wit and elegance.

40 year something Eric is a university professor Eric is meeting is 20 year old student Lance for breakfast. And they start talking. Eric is gay and his partner of 17 years recently died because of overdose. Lance used to be physically abused by his step father and because of which Eric has been helping Lance out and even gave him his condo to stay for his safety. They both understand even though to the public this may seem unusual arrangement and fodder for gossip, they both know that this is strictly professional. Eric likes him almost like his son and after many many years he found someone in Lance home he can connect with. Turns out even Eric's boyfriend didn't like this arrangement and they have had a few arguments about what was actual nature of Eric and Lance's relationship. Things shift when Lance asks Eric if he was in anyway responsible for death of his partner. Some hidden secrets are revealed where turns out Eroc's partner once visited Lance at the condo and had some sort of argument. Lance is also an aspiring writer, just like Eric's partner was who was almost a genius and a very popular writer. But once doesn't have all the latent and Eric has been a guiding support and mentor. A very interesting cat an mouse psychological game of sorts starts using words, history and one man upmanship over the other during this breakfast conversation. More secrets, more hidden agendas from both are slowly revealed leaving viewers on their edge. They talk about sexual identity, culture and multi-layered cultural background, their purpose of being artists, dealing with grief, anxiety and manipulation. Wide range of topics like literature, their personal lives, romantic relationships, to their ruinous secrets, hideous lies, and their darkest desires and impulses; are also not left behind. Is Lance playing games with Eric or Eric has secretly been doing. The same with Lance?

As mentioned before the film single handedly lies on the brilliance of these two actors who are there from the first minute to the last sitting in a restaurant across a dining table. But somehow the makers have cracked an excellent screenplay where different pieces fit like a jigsaw puzzle and as an audience I was just completely immersed in their mind games and trying to figure out what may happen next. I never thought something this simple in terms of a setting of a film can be this intriguing. The narrative seems straightforward, but the twists, the hidden truths and lies keeping going at you and part of you is relieved that no unnecessary side characters are spoiling this conversation. A brilliant master stroke used by the director is making these two actors also portray the role of Markus, Eric's ex-boyfriend on two different accounts, where each one of them is recounting an incident that happened with Markus at some dinner table which directly or indirectly affected the third person. As it is the two actors were doing a great job portraying their characters nicely, but this limited setting also helped the actors in impressively displaying their facial expressions that provided more depth to the already drowning storyline. Our little guy from Gameboys has grown into such a fine actor.

The different expectations of privacy and public presence between generations skew the men’s ability to understand one another, as very different value systems gradually become apparent. Sometimes feelings are more important than the truth, says Lance, which sums up the difficulty in Eric and Marcus’ relationship but also Lance’s tendency to detach himself from reality. There are different types of lie here, material and emotional, and it’s not always clear which is most dangerous. A smart little thriller which asks some uncomfortable questions, framed by the difficulties of staying safe as a gay man in a sometimes hostile society. I would highly highly recommend. This film. It premiered in Estonia and since then has been getting a lot of awards in a lot of festivals and I can see why. (8/10)