A Review
After watching the film John Denver Trending, it showed me a sad reality about life these days. It’s social media.
In Douglas Rushkoff‘s talk on TED, he threw this question “Does social media connects people in new and interesting ways?”
In the film, the farm boy’s life suddenly and instantly became viral or trending online. A video of him assaulting his classmate who accused him of stealing an iPad was uploaded. Social media users engaged in a trial by publicity.
No matter how John Denver’s mom, Marites Cabungcal (Meryll Soriano) makes any effort of defending and vindicating her son from the accusations launched at his son, things are getting off-hand.
Though the film is a low-budget production, it succeeds in painting the sad reality of social media effects in this present-day generation, particularly the GenZers. The concept of a cautionary tale that Arden Rod Condez did for his directorial debut via Cinemalaya 2019 is laudable. Its win at the festival as the best film for full-length is a validation.
Both Soriano and Jansen Magpusao‘s performances as the mother and son in the film were disturbingly moving. Magpusao’s acting debut also gave him his first best actor award. There’s no doubt about why the lad earned the judges’ nod.
Condez’s screenplay is a harrowing true story. After a boy’s video, the son Condez’s neighbor surfaced online, showing his bullying another boy, the bully fled. The film resorted to a more dark ending, yet it was successful in making an impactful statement about bullying.
The filmmaker’s decision to feature Pandan, Antique as its setting and making almost all non-professional actors and locals to be part of the cast is commendable. It gave his film the authenticity it wanted to envision and project.
If there’s a chance to see the film on its extended commercial run, catch it. If it makes it to a streaming platform someday, don’t miss it.
