the LOVED one

A film by Irene Emma Villamor, The Loved One is a poignant Filipino romantic drama that redefines traditional love into grief, memory, and self-identity. Ellie, a woman in her twenties who loves to explore and be free, finding sense of the word she’s living in and hoping to change it by volunteering in charities and finding donations to help the people in need meets Eric, a man who’s a workaholic, eldest son and the breadwinner of his family. Two really different people meet one another and fall in love 10 years only for it to end up on a random day. Then reunite after many years which force them to confront unresolved emotions, past heartbreaks, and lingering feelings.

One of the key literary techniques in the film is temporal distortion. The narrative frequently changes between past and present, often blurring the line between memory and reality. Nonlinear sequences such as dreamlike flashbacks, imagined conversations, happier moments, and sudden switch to them fighting was shown throughout the story. In a scene where Eric arrives at Ellie’s house to pick her up for their first date, the moment was presented from Ellie’s perspective where she sees Eric talking to her parents and them riding a motorcycle on the way to the restaurant. Suddenly, the film cuts to an unrelated scene which interrupts the flow. Afterward, the same event is revisited from Eric’s perspective, showing his conversation with Ellie’s parents and revealing how he felt when Ellie held him as they rode the motorcycle. The scene jumped between different timelines and viewpoints, encouraging viewers to pay close attention in order to distinguish whether what they are watching is a memory or reality.

Another technique in the film is Irony, the title The Loved One suggests comfort and affection, yet as you watch the movie you’d witness suffering and emotional entanglement—love here is complicated, both characters are really different that their goals didn't meet. It is also ironic how they always say I love you to one another but end up always hurting each other every single fight they had. The words they throw don't show love at all, it looks like they are consumed and eaten up by anger every single time. There was a scene where Eric proposed and Ellie refused to accept it, as what she said they were not the same anymore, they seek comfort and love from other people and they aren’t afraid to hurt each other anymore. They turned into angry people who accumulated each other’s flaws until love started to feel like a battlefield. Another ironic scene there was when Eric and his friend, Greg were talking about Eric cheating and planning to tell Ellie about it. But Greg, a married man, told him to just hide it and let it pass, as a married man with children he shouldn't be tolerating his friends' actions and give advice that is best for the couple. 

We can look at the film through a Marxist lens. Ellie grows up in a wealthy family where she does not struggle financially and is able to travel in any country, buy everything, and do anything she wants, that may be the reason why she struggles to find her purpose. She quits her job to find meaning and purpose in life—to do something she is passionate about. There was a line that goes something like “I’m still in my twenties, may time pa ako” . It is easy for her to say that because she doesn’t have a family to feed or a sibling to send to school to. Eric on the other hand is the eldest son and a breadwinner from a middle class family, he provides for his family and he is the one who pays for her siblings education. He is often called workaholic which is really acceptable knowing that he provides for his family, there was a scene where Eric's birthday was coming and Ellie asked him to file a 1 week leave for them to travel out of the country, Eric insist for a 3 days maximum because he have to work and Ellie called him workaholic and Eric simply said “Para sa future natin to”. Ellie grew up with security and Eric without that safety net, she could afford to prioritize self-discovery and passion, while he values responsibility, hard work, and practicality. They’re shaped by different realities which make them really different from each other.

We can also look at the film through a Reader-Response lens. Different perspectives from different people, as I've heard and seen people really have different views after watching the movie, some don't find the movie amusing and some find it really meaningful. Some empathize with Eric as he is the one who keeps on understanding and adjusting for Ellie, even after what he did some can still see where he is coming. Some are on Ellie’s side as she’s just a free woman, she can find herself and find purpose in life, she can do anything she wants, for herself. And some look at both, they believe that neither of them is evil and neither of them is entirely wrong, they're just two different people who ultimately realize that they aren’t exactly right for each other, in spite of knowing that they love each other. These responses from different people are shaped by their personal experiences, which make reader-response really unique because it’s from different people and different perspectives.

Personally, I find the movie calm but at the same time chaotic. I cannot really describe how I felt after watching the movie but I do realize a lot of things—that love can really be scary. “Love turns ordinary people into poets, philosophers, and monsters” because when you fall in love everything feels and becomes poetic. You justify things you once promised yourself you’d never accept, and slowly, without noticing you become someone you don’t even recognize—you lose parts of yourself. It was never about who the lover is and who the loved one is, both of them love each other it’s just that they were too different, Ellie doesn’t want to marry because she doesn't want to be trapped while Eric wants to settle with Ellie and build a family with her. Love is really not enough to make the relationship last, you have to understand one another, communication without understanding is just noise. They never learned how to see through each other’s eyes, they may be in a relationship for 10 years but it's really just a number. Eric’s point of view shows that he never likes her because of who she really is, he just loves that he loves her. While Ellie kept on growing, it was shown in the movie that her hair keeps on growing while Eric's hair keeps on getting whiter. It shows that some people really changed and some people just grew old.