4 Days (2017) movie review

La douleur exquise : the exquisite pain of wanting someone that you know you can never have, and knowing that you will still try to be with them. This, according to the main character, is not equivalent to unrequited love. Unrequited love is a state of relationship, the other is a state of mind, says the main character. This is what the story of Adolfo Alix Jr.'s 4 Days is all about. Directed by Adolf Alix Jr., it stars Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro in the lead roles. It was part of the “Indie Nation” section of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2016. Now, after almost a year of it's debut at Cinemalaya, the film finally gets a premiere screening at the UP Cine Adarna last August 24, 2017. The screening was graced by the film's lead actors Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro, together with the film's director, Adolf Alix Jr. I've been looking forward to seeing this film since last year but I wasn't able to catch it's screening. So when I learned about the film's premiere at UP CineAdarna, I was so excited about it.

Screenshots from the trailer

The film tells the story of two college friends, Mark (Mikoy Morales) and Derek (Sebastian Castro) who slowly realize they mean more to each other than either had initially realized. 4 Days joins Derek and Mark in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day over the course of a few years- charting the blossoming of a friendship in to something much more enduring as time goes on – and challenging both to question who they thought they were and who they truly want to me. Painting a moving picture of how an abiding friendship can sometimes lead to love – and how we sometimes have to wrestle with our own demons to find their true self, 4 Days is achingly romantic and delicate.

The story, which spans over a course of four years, focuses on the events in the two characters' lives every Valentines Day. It begins on a Valentines Day, as Mark arrives at the campus and joins Derek as his roommate in their college dormitory. Then, the story skips to the following year's Valentines Day after the two have become the best of friends, with Derek having a new girlfriend and Mark starting to realize his true feelings for his friend. The progress jumps a year after another which may seem like big leaps. But the pacing of the movie is actually slow. The story takes it time in building up the relationship between the two main characters. Unlike the usual stories we see onscreen where we follow a continuous flow of events, 4 Days instead gives us a peek into these character's lives for just a single day for every year. Yet this is more than enough to show how both characters have grown and the changes that they've had for the missing days of the rest of the year which we do not get to see. Most of the film's story happens within the confines of Mark and Derek's small room. From their first meeting to their first heartbreaks, they experience all of it within their small space. This makes the story feel more personal, because we get to enter their small, little world where they can be real to each other.

Source: TLA Releasing

The film's story focuses on the idea of waiting. With Mark waiting for the right time, the right moment, to let Derek know about his true feelings for him. Waiting for him to realize that all this time, he was just there, waiting for him. Waiting for Derek to love him back. The story is told mostly from Mark's point of view, as he narrates through voice overs what he have in mind about loving someone and how it feels when it is not returned back. His statements about unrequited love, about patiently waiting for a person to love you back or how sometimes one get's tired of waiting for love to be returned are smoothly layered over drone shots of the campus (UP Diliman) which serves as bookmarks to every chapter (or year) that ends or begins. These bookmarks make the transition from one Valentines Day to another seamless and keeps the pacing of the story consistent. I noticed that the film is not like the usual LGBT-oriented romantic drama films that most of us has seen in the past because director Adolf Alix decided not to follow most of the genre's norm. Unlike other LGBT-oriented romance drama, the film strays away from the more erotic aspects of the genre. It doesn't involved any sensual scenes (my favorite film, the gay coming-of-age 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten is no exemption because it had a masturbation scene) between the main characters. Instead, it focuses on it's characters' emotions and the time it takes for them to realize their true feelings for one another. Another thing that I noticed and liked about the film is the way it deviates from how usual LGBT-themed films ends in a sad or sometimes tragic manner. But I won't get into that too much to avoid spoiling it.

Though the film was shot in a rush (director Adolf Alix revealed that they shot the whole film within a span of just 2 days due to the very small budget), the film actually looks good. From the drone shots accompanied by Mark's voice-overs to the those long, continuous shots (which they call babad shots because of the long takes), every frame looks good. There is a consistent sepia tone all throughout the film, giving an old-fashioned look, as if every chapter (or year) is like a memory of yesterday that has passed by and long gone. It evokes nostalgia, especially the campus setting which reminds one of his/her college days. The film's soundtrack was also beautiful and perfectly fits the whole story. The song, entitled "Pusong Hindi Makatulog" was an original song by lead actor Mikoy Morales (the song's music video was even directed by Adolf Alix).

I think director Adolf Alix found the best actors to play the characters of the movie with Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro. Mikoy Morales has this innocent looking face which perfectly matched his character Mark who is about to fall in love for the first time to someone of his same sex and has no idea how to deal with it. He did a pretty good job in carrying those intense emotional scenes with his co-actor, especially during their heated argument in the final act of the film. Sebastian Castro was perfectly cast as Derek. His character, a guy who has been in relationships with women for most of his life and just realized that he actually harbors some feelings for another man, is more reserved and prefers to keep his true self hidden from most of the world. Sebastian's portrayal of the role was restrained, but felt so real. During the film's Q&A session, director Adolf Alix revealed that the film didn't have an actual script when they shot it. He only gave the actors an outline of what's supposed to happen and the two are left to come up with their own character's dialogues. This gave the film a much more raw appeal because the character's reactions are organic. These two actors also shares some really nice chemistry, as seen with their smooth yet believable impromptu conversations. We were so engrossed with the story and the two characters that we felt like we've been with them and known them for a lifetime. The film felt like a coming-of-age of the two characters as they both come to terms of their true feelings for one another.

Featuring stellar performances from it's two leads, and great direction from Adolf Alix, 4 Days is a touching and memorable film that is grounded on reality, and will leave a lasting impact on it's viewers with it's raw and realistic take on love.



Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰ of 5
4 Days (2016, Original Release)
Directed by Adolf Alix Jr.
Starring Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro