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Like in the Movies philippines drama review
Completed
Like in the Movies
0 people found this review helpful
by Yi-Hyun
Dec 12, 2020
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
This review may contain spoilers

Like in the Movies, Good or Bad?

THIS REVIEW DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS.

This drama started off slow, however, the topics discussed in it are very important; sibling surrogation, LGBT, and coming out.

At the beginning of the drama, Karl seems like a typical man who lives by himself and is undergoing an architecture degree of some sort. A degree that was forced upon him by his parent's expectations. Meanwhile, Karl himself is interested in the film world. He wants to change his degree to film but is scared of disappointing his parents because it was revealed that he is a surrogate for his deceased brother. He has his brothers name, his clothes, and even his assumed dream.
On the other hand, you have Vlad. An outgoing, extroverted person. A complete opposite of the introverted Karl. He is someone who is comfortable in his own body, his own skin and with who he is as a person. He is openly gay and is willing to openly talk about it. He originally used to live next door to Vlad but due to some circumstances, he begins to live with Vlad and they even pretend to date to fool his sister. In return for such a favour, Karl has asked Vlad to help him prepare for changing his degree to film since Vlad is a film student. I was thoroughly impressed with both characters in the beginning and their slow development. Vlad has some amazing one-liners such as "I refuse to be a plot device that triggers somebody else's identity crisis". Welp bad news Vlad, you were.

There was only one thing that disappointed me with this drama.
It was the fact that Vlad, Vlad's sister, the neighbour and even his uncle who expected Karl to confidently say he was gay and in love with Vlad when Karl had no idea who he truly was. The development was all new to him, especially when he and Vlad kissed.
I completely understand that Vlad previously dated someone who wasn't ready to come out, and I understand where he was coming from, but Karl is different from Vlad's ex. His ex already knew he was gay, just didn't want to come out of the closet.
Karl, on the other hand, was completely different. He didn't know if he was gay, bisexual, pansexual etc. All he knew was that he had something inside him that started to genuinely like Vlad. Something inside him that liked kissing the latter, and something inside him that yearned for the latter. Karl was never trying to 'hide in the closet'.
He was trying to understand the new sexual awakening that occurred. What he needed support to understand it all, but instead, he was pressured into putting a label on something he had no idea how to process or comprehend.

Since the beginning of the drama, Karl has slowly been trying to gain the courage to live for himself, rather than for the original Karl and his parents. Then there he is flooded with newfound, confusing emotions. His world, emotionally wise, was completely flipped around because of Vlad and his influence.

Meanwhile, the acting was superb. The actors really got into their roles, and genuinely made me smile. laugh, cry and angry. They all seemed so comfortable with each other and genuinely gave off vibes that they enjoyed filming this drama.
Paolo was a good choice to cast as Karl. He gave the perfect amount of introverted awkwardness that most individuals have when they are unfamiliar with a social situation. It perfectly fits the essence of Karl. Meanwhile, Ian was the perfect choice to cast as Vlad. He portrayed Vlad with confidence, snark and cheekiness. You can't help but just love his entire personality and presence as a whole. He really brought Vlad to life.

The soundtrack for this drama, made my jaw drop. It was absolutely perfect and you can tell that it was thoroughly thought out because each track complemented each scene perfectly. It didn't take away anything, nor did it overpower the work of the actors.

Would I rewatch this drama? It depends. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, the acting and the entire work overall. However, as I said, there was a part that left me disappointed and thus, resulted in me lowering my rating for the story content itself. However, I am deeply impressed that regardless of that slightly disappointing approach they took, to the situation, they still maintained authenticity. They kept it all realistic and took into consideration real-life scenarios, real-life stories, and real-life topics.
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