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MANILA, Philippines — In 2024, young director Fifth Solomon megged a romantic-comedy flick, “My Sassy Girl,” loosely inspired by the 2001 South Korean film of the same title, with Toni Gonzaga and Pepe Herrera in the lead.
This time, Fifth crafts “Lasting Moments,” a gut-punch of a melodrama that dares to stare directly into the slow unraveling of a once picture-perfect romantic story.
The quiet, piercing film is anchored by the ideal onscreen chemistry of Sue Ramirez and JM De Guzman, who deliver what may be their most soul-baring performances to date.
Sue essays Pia, a rising corporate star, ambitious yet tender, grounded in the simple pleasures of shared meals and handwritten dreams taped on the wall of a rented home.
JM plays Aki, a gentle and artistic soul, a history teacher with a past that quietly haunts him.
Together, they embody the kind of love that feels real: joyful, flawed and achingly familiar. The story is a tender masterpiece of love, loss and life’s unforgiving turns.
From the first frame of this romance-drama, the intimacy of Pia and Aki hums with authenticity. Whether they are slurping chicken mami tinola or playing the piano in the dim glow of their small home, their bond feels lived-in, not forced.
The brilliance of “Lasting Moments” lies in its disarming honesty. The screenplay is direct, even plainspoken, but never simplistic.
When Pia chooses to take a call from her boss on her birthday — on a weekend no less — it is not just about duty, but the invisible lines drawn between ambition and affection.
Aki’s downward spiral thereafter, triggered by a simple kiss on the cheek and the ghost of a father who once left, is as tragic as it is believable.
Fifth’s direction is masterful in its restraint. He resists melodramatic flourishes, opting instead for the slow burn: bills unpaid, moments forgotten, promises broken. The unraveling of Aki is painful because it is so incremental.
The cinematography mirrors this unraveling — shadows deepen, spaces widen and what was once warm becomes cold.
However, the film never condemns either of them. Instead, it poses a difficult question: What do we owe the people who love us when we no longer love ourselves?
When Pia finally leaves for Singapore with her boss Carlo (played by a stone-faced Victor Silayan), “Lasting Moments” pivots into a second act that resists the temptation of romanticized reunions.
Instead, it tells the brutal truth: that time does not always heal, and not all love stories are granted a second chance.
Even as Pia finds the success she dreamed of — material comfort, professional validation — she begins to feel the stifling sterility of a life stripped of spontaneity, music and imperfection. Carlo is all work, all polish, no soul.
Sue shines in these later sequences. Her silences speak volumes. A single glance at an unsent “Kamusta?” message tells us all we need to know. She is a woman haunted not by regret, but by a past that refuses to fade.
Aki’s absence looms large and when she returns to the Philippines and fate intervenes, the film delivers a twist so devastating, so earned, that it will leave you shattered long after the credits roll.
The decision to cast Sue and JM was nothing short of inspired. The film lives and dies on their chemistry, and Solomon was right to insist on this pairing despite multiple rejections from studios who deemed the script “too quiet,” “too sad” or “too real.”
But it is in that realness that “Lasting Moments” finds its strength. This is a film not of grand gestures, but of slow aches. It is the kind of cinema that believes in the power of restraint and in doing so, delivers an emotional impact more profound than words could express.
Sue is obviously on a roll lately. After coming out in the 2024 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry, “The Kingdom,” last December, she was paired again with Diego Loyzaga in director Gino Santos’ “In Between,” shown early May.
Then comes her first film with JM with “Lasting Moments,” to start its regular run on June 4. Sue will be seen next in the comedy, “Flower Girl,” megged by Fatrick Tabada.
The classic OPM (Original Pilipino Music) ballad, How Did You Know, written by Cecil Azarcon and first popularized by Chiqui Pineda, brings the quiet power of its music for “Lasting Moments,” with Keiko Necesario’s reimagined version.
The film’s emotional core ingrained in Filipino romantic sensibilities, becomes more than a soundtrack. It becomes the pulse of Pia and Aki’s love. maintaining the original’s wistfulness while infusing it with a delicate, modern ache.
The song’s plain piano instrumental used during the film’s most painful, breath-stealing scene, that solidifies the song’s place in the marrow of this story. Like the film itself, the music doesn’t beg for tears, it earns them.
As the last notes of How Did You Know fade into silence, you’re left not just with tears, but with the ache of remembering something or someone you once called home.
A three-hankie weepie undoubtedly, “Lasting Moments” screens in local cinemas starting June 4. Bring tissues. And perhaps, someone you once loved.
