movie review of hello love goodbye

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Review: “hello, love, goodbye” highlights the personal struggles of overseas filipino workers in hong kong.

Cathy Garcia-Molina departs from rom-coms in a touching tale of sacrifice and love in a city far from home

By Jianne Soriano , 3 Sep 19 06:13 GMT

Leave to pursue your dreams, or stay for the love of your life? This is the question that Hello, Love, Goodbye asks us. 

This latest offering from Cathy Garcia-Molina , best known for her Filipino romantic comedies, is set in Hong Kong. Molina sheds light on the experiences of Filipinos working overseas by following the story of Joy and Ethan, two Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). We see their lives unfold through the eyes of Joy, a hardworking domestic helper who’s trying to save money to move to Canada as a nurse, and Ethan, a bartender trying to find his motivation in life.

Hello, Love, Goodbye stars two of the Philippines’ biggest names from the two of the biggest  “ loveteams ” — Kathryn Bernardo (from KathNiel ) and Alden Richards (from AlDub ). What’s also surprising is that Bernado and Richards are from rival television networks; in the Philippines, it’s common for actors to be signed to one network exclusively. Their performance in Hello, Love, Goodbye proves that once in a while, it doesn’t hurt to break out of your loveteam to grow as an artist. 

An Empathetic, Authentic Performance

In Hello Love, Goodbye , Bernado graduates from her teen roles and blossoms into a dramatic actress — a total transformation from her child acting days — in a tour de force performance. Richards rises to the challenge and exhibits his versatility as an actor, proving why he’s one of the country’s matinee idols.

To get into their roles, Bernardo was separated from the cast to better empathize with Joy’s feelings of isolation ; after just a week of filming in Hong Kong, she wanted to go back to the Philippines. Richards, on the other hand, lost almost 25 kg to play Ethan. Molina is notorious for her strictness with the artists that she works with—but it’s paid off as they are all household names, and her films have been blockbuster hits .

Hello, Love, Goodbye ’s love story is not new, yet it provides us with a unique perspective of the realities of being an overseas worker. The film tears away the layers of the OFW experience with sheer intensity. Shifting away from showing the employee-employer relationship found in other films about OFWs, Molina brings her focus to the OFWs themselves, and their families back home.

The film strips down the glamor of Hong Kong, as we follow Joy waking up at 5am every day, hustling through the crowded streets of Hong Kong —away from her family, never catching a dream. She sits down on top of cardboard boxes on Sundays in Central and juggles taking care of her employer’s daughter and grandmother while selling power banks as a side job (which is actually illegal). Molina blends drama and clarity in portraying these hardships, and most importantly, tells the “whys.”

The Burden of Responsibility

“If you stop, you’ll starve”—that’s the reason why.

Joy, and thousands of other OFWs, endure these hardships to provide for their family back home—a message that the film strongly reinforces. We watch as Joy’s friend reminds her cousin to be smart with her money so she can have enough to send back to the Philippines, as the same friend tells her father that she’ll stay two more years because they need the money.

Domestic helpers only earn as little as HK$4,520 (US$576) per month, while working long hours. In Joy’s words, if you stop working, your family will starve. Making sacrifices is almost always a given—a harsh reality if you’re an OFW because you have a responsibility to your family back home. This responsibility that Joy carries is one that resonates with many other OFWs.

But OFWs carry out this responsibility at what expense?

Similar to Still Human , which also featured a Filipino domestic helper, Joy has a degree in nursing. In fact, nursing is a common degree among Filipinos with the hope of working overseas for better pay than what they can get back home. As it turns out, nursing is actually the dream that Joy wants to pursue, and being a domestic helper is just a stepping stone to that goal.

Then Ethan comes into the picture. While a movie following the plight of domestic helpers and OFWs doesn’t really need a romance story, the love story still has a purpose. Ethan’s character contrasts with Joy’s. While Joy is hardworking, determined, and knows what she wants in life, Ethan is a happy-go-lucky guy who jumps from one relationship to the next and doesn’t know what he wants in life. 

But his character’s free-wheeling life also echoes Joy’s self-questioning of whether choosing ourselves over our family makes us a disappointment, or selfish.

Joy laments the lack of choice she has in life. As the family’s breadwinner, her family doesn’t know what she has to endure on a daily basis. A nursing graduate that cleans the toilet and eats leftover food—“I’m more than this job, I’m more, and I want to be more,” Joy says.

Surely, this sentiment reflects the many dreams of other overseas Filipino workers. They have dreams but they also have responsibilities that hold them back. Joy and Ethan’s romance show the heavy burdens and choices OFWs face on a daily basis. Even something as minor as buying a snack or not is difficult, because every dollar spent is a dollar you could have saved to give back to your family.

Dreams vs. Love

A common Filipino phrase, “ libre lang mangarap ,” tells us “it’s free to dream”. But Joy and Ethan realize, as they try to make their love work, that dreams aren’t free. When you make a choice, you give up something.

Joy and Ethan’s mutual romance story mirrors the same sentiments that their individual stories have: choices, responsibilities, and dreams. 

Perhaps that’s the reason why the romance element works against the backdrop of an OFW story. In this sense, Hello, Love, Goodbye isn’t just a love story, nor is it just an OFW story—it’s a story about finding yourself, and loving yourself in the process. This universal message is something that will strike a chord with audiences.

Hello, Love, Goodbye ‘s message is simple: give yourself the chance to do what you want, get back up from disappointments, be courageous enough to love and choose whether you want to leave or stay. The film doesn’t portray Bernardo and Alden as people to pity—it portrays them as human beings, with stories and experiences that empower them to ultimately choose how to pave their own way for their futures—with or without each other.

Hello, Love, Goodbye —The Philippines. Dialog in Filipino and English. Directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina. First released July 31st, 2019. Running time 1 hour 58 minutes. Starring Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards.

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‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’ review: Love in a huff

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Cathy Garcia-Molina’s Hello, Love, Goodbye , like most other romances churned out by Star Cinema, opens with a voiceover. 

Joy (Kathryn Bernardo) is standing in the middle of the airport, gazing at the board showing flight statuses, waiting as it finally shows that the flight going to Manila is cancelled. Her voiceover talks of transience and how Hong Kong, the city where she works, is a place that is not meant for long-term dedication as it is just a stop-over.

What happens after is more fascinating.

In what could be the film’s first bid to imbibe not just its setting’s vibe but also its main character’s sentiments, Garcia-Molina orchestrates a robustly edited montage of Joy’s life in Hong Kong over her narration of all her frustrations. The collection of images of Joy’s routine over a frazzled chase through the metropolis’ dingy alleyways is capped by a moment where she meets Ethan (Alden Richards).

There are two ways to view Hello, Love, Goodbye .

One is as a fictionalized depiction of the lives of a Hong Kong-domestic helper as seen through the experiences of Joy. In fact, the film takes its time to depict this world, stripping the city of its typical glamour and luxuries by exposing its streets and walkways littered with cardboard mattings populated by tired Filipinas finally living the life. There is a genuine effort by Garcia-Molina not to adorn the hardships with gloss and gratuities as she exhausts (within the constraints of the genre) all the details that mark the inequity domestic helpers experience just to earn a living. 

Here we find the film’s strengths and its most enduring moments. Clearly, Garcia-Molina has a heart for the plight of the domestic helpers, peppering her film with scenes and exchanges that, in true melodramatic fashion, relay the entire gamut of sacrifices that these women have to endure.

Joy, after witnessing her mother (Maricel Laxa) glossing over her Chinese husband’s physical abuses, meets a former flame in a tram. He tells her he’s on vacation with his new wife and is going back to the Philippines after spending years as a nurse abroad. Joy, who is also a nurse, stomachs the embarrassment of telling him that she has ended up a domestic helper, just like her mother. In one quick moment, we see Sally (Kakai Bautista), the always jovial friend of Joy, in tears as she laments being forced to go home by her family. 

Rory B. Quinto’s Anak (2000) has become the staple melodrama for Hong Kong domestic helpers shouldering the burdens of being both the breadwinner and the absentee family member. Babyruth Villarama’s Sunday Beauty Queen (2016) has revealed with painful realism the efforts of these domestic helpers to retain their humanity and happiness amidst the pressures of their work.

Hello, Love, Goodbye  is nothing new. But its puts effort in again bringing to the fore the complex social structures and personal sufferings that define the domestic helper experience. 

Also a romance

Then there is Hello, Love, Goodbye as a romance between Joy and Ethan, a bartender with predictable family issues.

This is where the film eventually kowtows to formula, where the characters suddenly teeter towards stereotypes, and where the scenes and the dialogue lose some novelty and heft all for the sake of familiarity and escape.

But this isn’t to say that the love story is lousy. It is just woefully eclipsed by the weight and gravity of everything else that Hello, Love, Goodbye attempts to portray. 

The fault here isn’t the existence of the romantic facet. After all, it is is necessary to raise the current matter of Joy’s blossoming as a woman who can decide for herself without taking into account the issues of her family or her lover.  It is just that the love story could have taken a more drastic step out of the box and it didn’t. It decided to be convenient.

Handsomely made, consistently acted

Nevertheless, Hello, Love, Goodbye is still fine entertainment, one that doesn’t dumb down the issues it puts forward for the sake of a standard happy ending. 

It is handsomely made and consistently acted. Bernardo inhabits the overworked domestic helper who is pushed to being angry at the world quite seamlessly. Richards, on the other hand, manages to transform his happy-go-lucky ladies’ man into a believable hopeless romantic.

There is ample chemistry. However, it’s clear that Bernardo is better at playing the oppressed woman pushing for independence rather than a lover to just another leading man. She is more effective when in a huff, than in love. — Rappler.com

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ Tirad Pass.

Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.

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“Joy is Here”: A Review of Hello, Love, Goodbye

Hello, Love, Goodbye is breaking box office records in the Philippines, and now it’s making waves throughout the diaspora.

The film centers on Joy (Kathryn Bernardo), a domestic helper living and working in Hong Kong, and her determination to fulfill the responsibilities to her family in the Philippines. She then meets Ethan (Alden Richards), a Filipino immigrant in Hong Kong working as a bartender, who, unlike Joy, skirts many of his responsibilities to his family. The two meet, fall in love, then…life happens.

It’s easy to see why the movie has won the hearts of many Filipinos worldwide. Yes, Filipinos love their romance films, but Hello, Love, Goodbye also reminds audiences of the realities so many Filipinos face. Amidst the love between the couple is the harrowing life of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) and the various ways the two have to navigate through the social, legal, and geographic boundaries that separate them from so many people. The film sheds additional light on the realities of living abroad and the seemingly impossible ways of finding and sustaining love transnationally. It’s not your typical melo-drama about OFWs, nor is it just another sappy Filipino rom-com. Instead, filmmaker Cathy Garcia-Molina brilliantly takes the best elements of both genres and fuses them together to make an emotional-laden, yet entertaining film.

The acting of Kathryn Bernardo certainly carries the film, particularly through the roller coaster emotions Joy felt during her journey. Alden Richards was a bit more stoic in character, but he still serves as a suitable love interest. Additionally, as a Filipino film, family is a big element for both characters’ lives. Garcia-Molina successfully lines out the main plot narratives that demonstrate Joy and Ethan’s obligations of family that complicate their love for each other.  Garcia-Molina also employs artistic filmmaking devices that gives the film a very poetic touch.

By no means is Hello, Love, Goodbye perfect. Some of the subplots are a bit excessive: three disabled characters, both stars’ ex-partners make an appearance, and a run-away cousin. One can also do without the romantically-laced music in the background of almost every conversation between Joy and Ethan. Also, Bernardo and Richards’s light skin color aren’t exactly the prototypical among Filipinos living in Hong Kong (but that’s certainly a larger and ongoing issue in Philippine society).

Yet, despite these minor glitches, the movie works best as an expanded view of OFW life. Most films centered on OFWs highlight the horrific elements – an abusive employer, spoiled children left home, or cheating spouses. One particular scene in the movie is even an ode the classic OFW film, Anak . We see Joy and her friends watching quintessential scene in Anak (2000), where Vilma Santos, in an Oscar award-worthy performance, painstakingly explains to her daughter the tremendous sacrifice she has to make for her family as an OFW. We are thus reminded that the OFW experience of hardship continues on in this global economy, with no concrete end in sight.

While this movie touches on some of these elements, Hello, Love, Goodbye also conveys that OFWs maintain humanity and happiness amidst the chaos and injustice abroad. Throughout the movie, the characters live full lives. Though their life situations are not ideal, they can still unwind at a bar at night, they can poke fun at their friends, and they can enter beauty contents. But most of all, like Joy, they can fall in love.

Hello, Love, Goodbye is playing in theaters throughout the U.S. and Canada.  For theater listings, click here .

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1 comment on “ “Joy is Here”: A Review of Hello, Love, Goodbye ”

Wow your review is so off the mark. The movie has no unique plot at all and really is just another crappy Filipino movie with no reason to be made.

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Hello, Love, Goodbye

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Rent Hello, Love, Goodbye on Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Prime Video, Apple TV.

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Cathy Garcia-Molina

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‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’: Way More Than Just a Love Story

• August 2, 2019

Hello, Love, Goodbye ’ is more than just a romance drama. It’s way more than that as it uses the genre to pivot into a wonderful story about the burden of responsibility, what we really owe to our family, to love, and to ourselves. Directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina and written by Garcia-Molina, Carmi G. Raymundo, and Rona Co (story by Carmi G. Raymundo), the film uses the genre to tackle the issues that plague many of our overseas foreign workers working as domestic helpers in Hong Kong, and the work and sacrifice that it takes to become a resident there. The love story that blossoms between Joy (Kathryn Bernardo) and Ethan (Alden Richards) becomes a focal point of everything that is gained and lost in an OFW’s life.

        View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by ABS-CBN Films, Star Cinema (@starcinema) on Jun 15, 2019 at 1:33am PDT

Garcia-Molina expertly manages to build the pace and sets the tone, presenting Hong Kong as a fast-paced world that requires determination and stamina to survive. We see this in Joy as she struggles with the weight of caring for the Chinese family that she works for while earning on the side, illegally, to raise money to move to Canada. She’s a nursing graduate, but a deep family issue has trapped her into the world of a domestic helper and within the first ten minutes, we come to realize that her life isn’t her own.

Everything changes, of course, when she meets Ethan. His story is very different. He’s aiming for residency. Unlike Joy, who can only work as a DH (so the work she does on the side is actually illegal), Ethan can stay and find any job in Hong Kong. He works as a bartender and he is smitten by Joy at her first glance.

But Ethan is a player and while he tries to make the moves on Joy, she’s way too focused on her plans of getting to Canada and moving her whole family there to bother with anything else, much less love.

In fact, the film starts on shaky ground because Ethan’s first impression with Joy is a cruel one. It starts off as a real bad joke that actually pissed me off and his relentless pursuit of her gets very annoying and frustrating as the film really digs deep into Joy’s struggles.

But magic happens when the characters finally open up to each other and Ethan begins to truly falls into Joy’s world. Through masterful direction and great writing, the story earns its romantic turn without ever sacrificing its social realist message about the OFW’s plight.

Everything from the dynamics of finding work in Hong Kong to the heavy burden of providing for family both in Hong Kong and back home in the Philippines is intertwined so wonderfully into the love story that it never feels too much like a message being forced down our throats.

It’s wonderful how the film, and director Cathy Garcia-Molina, knows how to turn this profound story and move it within the mainstream tropes without losing its heart. It is cheesy when it has to be, sentimental in the right way, and full of heart at the right moments that it hits all the right buttons. This is unapologetically a mainstream romantic drama, but it does it so well that it takes flight and revels in its genre.

Because of that awkward, even off-putting first meeting, Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richard’s chemistry don’t quite strike gold on first glance. But like the characters in the story, their chemistry builds and grows until it hits its mark. Kathryn is best, though, alone. She gives a solid performance as she portrays Joy’s determination through the exhaustion and frustration her character feels. But when the love story truly begins, there is a shine that comes out.

Alden, on the other hand, is magical when he has to share a scene with other characters. But oftentimes, especially when the camera is focused entirely on him, he buckles and relies on being attractive. When he is sharing a scene with Kathryn or dealing with his own family problems with the scene-stealing Jameson Blake, who plays his younger brother Edward, he comes to life. But alone, he sometimes feels like he’s acting rather than being in the moment like in his other scenes.

Other than Jameson Blake, who does wonders with the few scenes that he has, the other standout performance is Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan, who plays Joy’s mother. This is an essential role with its own magnificent arc that truly hits hard at the last moment.

        View this post on Instagram                   Can you stop for love? Can you stop for yourself? #HelloLoveGoodbye now showing in 380 cinemas nationwide! #HelloLoveTHANKYOUPo A post shared by ABS-CBN Films, Star Cinema (@starcinema) on Jul 31, 2019 at 9:37pm PDT

‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’ is way more than just a love story. It really delves deep into the choices that a person must make between love and family and one’s own dreams. It asks hard questions and is unafraid to depict hard situations, but still manages to maintain its tone and the conventions of the genre that it is in. There’s a whole lot of popular cheesy love songs that come in more often than I would prefer, but it’s exactly what this movie wants to do and it has earned it in spades.

Find showtimes for 'Hello, Love, Goodbye' and book your tickets today!

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Hello, Love, Goodbye (2019)

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What it's about.

Joy is a dutiful, overseas Filipino worker supporting her entire family back home. Ethan is a well-off bartender who has, time and again, put himself first before others. They couldn’t be any more different, yet in Hong Kong, their alien status and ambitious goals make them kindred spirits. What starts as a low-stakes bond quickly turns into an essential relationship, one that puts their personal commitments to the test. 

Hello, Love, Goodbye may appear formulaic at first, but it is heightened by a keen understanding of life overseas. It avoids romanticizing the migrant experience and sees it for what it truly is: a harsh but necessary means to an end. If this seems too severe, it’s also softened by an enchanting romance and some welcome comic relief in the form of the pair’s friends. Because of this nice mix, it’s no surprise that Hello, Love, Goodbye instantly broke domestic records and remains the highest-grossing Filipino movie of all time. 

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Movie Review: ‘Hello, Love Goodbye’ rises from the ordinary

A scene from “Hello, Love Goodbye” with Alden Richards and Kathryn Bernardo. TFC

“Hello, Love Goodbye,” a Love story or socio-political commentary on the Filipino diaspora? A private U.S. screening on Monday, Aug. 5, delivered the story, set in Hong Kong, centering on the life of newly arrived OFW, Joy Fabregas who has a nursing degree in the Philippines but has taken a job as a domestic helper in Hong Kong to help support her family.

The film opens with a shot of the departures and arrivals at HK International Airport. In the background is a female voice presumably that of Joy Fabregas, the lead character, expressing the thoughts of the new arrival, describing places like Hong Kong, as just stopovers: “You arrive, stay a while, then leave.” The sentence encapsulates Joy’s mindset regarding her 2-year contract. She meets Ethan, a charismatic playboy who works as a bartender to help support his invalid father and younger brothers while waiting for his permanent residency in Hong Kong. Ethan arduously courts Joy, who resists his charms despite finding herself slowly but inevitably drawn closer to a romantic relationship with him.

Even as the screenplay establishes the romantic tension between Joy and Ethan, the movie takes the viewers into the world of the Filipino OFWs in Hong Kong, depicting their regular Sunday day-off gathering in Hong Kong Central, a park where the Filipino domestic helpers are able to connect with their kababayans , talk in Tagalog or their native dialect, prepare and share and eat Filipino food,  and generally assuage their homesickness and separation anxieties from their homeland and  families. Here, in this park, they are back home, if only for the few hours of the day. They even have their own beauty-and-talent contest and engage in commerce—buy and sell goods—something that temporary workers are expressly forbidden from doing.

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Because of the backdrop of the plight of OFWs in Hong Kong, this love story rises from the trite and ordinary to something relevant and relatable to Filipinos. The choices the lovers struggle with are not the typical struggles of lovers coming from different economic strata, as in the prince and Cinderella or in countless Filipino movies (e.g., Annie Batungbakal) or from feuding families, as in Romeo and Juliet. This is the story of two lovers, each of whom must escape from the emotional chains of past mistakes (Ethan’s lost love) or promises made (the commitment of both to helping support their respective families)  or goals of self-fulfillment (Joy’s determination to be the person she believes she can be, to finally pursue her own dreams).

The lead actors—Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards—give what can only be described as tour de force performances, completely obliterating the lines between where their own identities end and where their movie roles begin. Kathryn and Alden are awesomely able to communicate conflicting emotions without saying anything. Kudos to the director, Cathy Garcia Molina, for recognizing the talents she was working with and getting all the cinematic mileage from them. Applause as well to the musical editor for the musical thread through each of the non-speaking sequences between Alden and Kathryn. The close ups are pure art as executed by the actors and captured by the director. This movie earned P250 million in five days in the Philippines, and for good reason.

This is a date movie if ever there’s one. As they say back home, “just feel the feeling.” Sit back, secretly dab the tears away… resistance is futile.

•••

Included in the invitation to preview the movie was the opportunity to interview the lead actress, Kathryn Bernardo.  After watching her for one hour in her role of struggling Hong Kong domestic helper it was almost shocking to the senses to see when she walked to the front of the screening room in a simple backless lilac halter topped softly flowing gown and looking like the head-turning movie ingenue that she is; that was how convincing her performance was.

Actress Kathryn Bernardo fielding questions. TFC

It took me a few moments to accept that this striking beauty with the girlish voice and co-ed laugh in front of me was the Joy Fabregas in the movie. That’s how amazing the transformation was.  When I asked how she prepared for her role, her reply was “Total immersion.” She mixed in among the domestic helpers that gathered regularly in the park. She did not interact with her (Kathryn’s) circle of friends for the duration of the project. In other words, she became Joy Fabregas, the domestic helper even before they started the shooting.

If one is to see only one Filipino movie this year and the next few years, this is the one. But be warned. Bring a whole packet of tissues. Even the super hunk who thinks of himself as super macho will find tears welling in his eyes at several points in the movie, if he has just the least bit of a romantic in him. And if one has ever been in love, this movie will tug at his or her heartstrings.

Kathryn Bernardo’s performance in this movie has “Best Actress” written all over it. And the producers might even think international, perhaps submitting it to international film festivals, maybe even vying for the Oscars in the foreign film category.  With this movie cementing her name as a dramatic actress, I asked her, what role she would want next if it were up to her. With only the slightest hesitation, she replied, “Action,” explaining that she wanted to expand her comfort zone and that the only way to grow is to take risks.

HELLO, LOVE, GOODBYE, a production of Star-Cinema Films starring Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, directed by Award-winning and blockbuster director CathyGarcia- Molina.

For US Theater Schedule visit: https://usa.mytfc.com/theaters/#scroll_Hello-Love-Goodbye

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‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’ Movie Review: Kathryn, Alden prove that love team should be a thing of the past

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Hello, Love, Goodbye (2019) – Movie Review

August 5, 2019 Kyla Marie Tardecilla Movies 0

Hello, Love, Goodbye (2019) is a romance-comedy-drama that depicts the struggles of a young Filipina domestic helper caught between her dreams and love affair in one of the most demanding cities in the world, Hong Kong.

The setting is quite scenic and the movie does a good job in capturing iconic sights. It almost gives you the feeling of traveling while immersing yourself to the characters quirky antics.

It also sheds light on the difficulties OFW’s face in Hong Kong, particularly from the perpective of the domestic helpers. The cultur shock, the sense of unbelongingness, feelings of not having any choice, and the need to rise above the situation to make their stay bearable.

It’s also nice to see Kathryn Bernardo team up with another co-star other than Daniel Padilla for a love-team story. Alden Richards offers a refreshing feel on the screen with Kathryn. But I would really wish for Kathryn to be casted in other genre of films. She seems to be stuck in this kinds of movie. Am I the only one who notices that?

An old cliché

While watching the film, I could almost tell how it was going to end. I was recognizing a story pattern similar to the movie “ Coyote Ugly “. It’s about a girl with dreams, who moved to a big city. She is emotionally lost and burdened with money problems and not knowing if she will ever achieve her ambitions. But she meets a cute man who stands by her and supports her. They fall in love while the man actively participates and contributes in her emergence. But later gets into a fight with him because the man feels that she chooses her dreams over him. Just when everything is about to crumble again, the man puts aside his needs and expectations for the sake of the girl. They get back together, and the girl fulfills her dreams as the man cheers for her.

Yes. Hello, Love, Goodbye has the same plot with Coyote Ugly.  The man martyred for the sake of the ambitious princess is a common trope in chick flicks.

For more about “Hello, Love, Goodbye”, see the movie scene breakdown here!!!

Spoiler plot

Joy (Kathryn Bernardo), a Filipino domestic helper in Hong Kong, is in distress as her job is in jeopardy. Due to unfortunate circumstances from her employer, she is forced to make a risky decision that might get her deported. She decides to take second job as a waitress which is forbidden by the law.  She meets Ethan (Alden Richards) at the bar where they work and he shows his appreciation for her by offering her a drink.

On that same night, Joy almost got caught by the authorities as they chase her through the alleyways. Fortunately, Ethan was able to catch up to her and she kisses him on a desperate attempt to hide her face as the cops were passing by and looking for her. This makes things exciting for Ethan as he starts to pursue her romantically from this point on

Ethan on a regular basis sends cheesy massages and calls Joy on her phone to get her attention, to which at first Joy finds irritating as it interrupts her work. But she soon finds herself longing for him. They became more open to each other especially at the point when Joy emotionally breaks down from all the responsibilities and burdens she has.

Ethan becomes her “shoulder to cry on”.  Joy shares to him that she has plans of migrating to Canada in four months. She dreams of using her educational background as a nurse in Canada and vents out that she’s tired of being a domestic helper as it doesn’t give justice to her her self value.

As time went on, Ethan’s admiration for Joy becomes deeper. He pursues her and courts her. He even helps her out with some of her side gigs for extra income. Ultimately, his efforts lead to a real relationship with her. But with the expectation that it would only be temporary since Ethan mentions that he wants to make the most out of their time while she hasn’t moved yet to Canada.

Ethan realizes that he wants to have a much more committed future with her. He plans to put up his own bar so he can support both of themselves. He was even able to get funds to start up the business. But when Ethan proposes this to Joy, she declines.

In an emotional argument, Joy stands firm with her dreams to go to Canada telling Ethan that she doesn’t want to let this opportunity pass and have a future where she regrets making the decision where she’ll constantly ask herself “what if?”. Ethan feels that all of his efforts for her were invalid and that he wasn’t enough for her.

A few days later, they get back together and Ethan proposes to Joy not for marriage, but for her to be with him for the rest of her days in Hong Kong. Ethan shows his full support for her dreams and they go on a scenic adventure around the mega city.

The movie ends with Joy at the airport preparing for departure to Canada.

My personal thoughts

The movie is entertaining but it lacks the punch for it to be a memorable one simply because it’s a common story in the chick-flick genre.

It’s usually common for us women to blush when a man gets out of his own way and puts on a good amount of effort during courtship and especially during the relationship.

In the movie, Ethan was happy to put his needs aside for Joy’s sake. But in reality, that can be very devastating. Whether you’re a man or a woman, it can be very traumatic to be put aside for the sake of your partner’s dreams when you know for a fact that you’re more than willing to help make those dreams a reality. No compromise is even needed, just true love and support.

Another problem I see is that the audience might think that Ethan, or men in general, are possessive and obsessive. That Ethan was only acting out of his own accord. But Ethan was in fact the only one willing to go the extra mile for Joy. Her journey to Canada would have not even been possible if it wasn’t for him. That’s why I feel bad for Ethan because he was forced to accept what he did not deserve.

It might be right to say that Joy didn’t owe Ethan anything, because Joy never forced him to do her any favors. But if it was the other way around, if it was the man who left the woman who helped and supported him for the sake of his ambitions, the whole world would cry foul. See the double standard there? I want a better ending for Ethan!

The theme song used in the film is “Kung ‘Di Rin Lang Ikaw” by December Avenue featuring Moira Dela Torre.

“Kung ‘Di Rin Lang Ikaw” is a song that expresses deep hurt and dismay about a failed relationship where the lover questions his/her ability to move on or find love from someone else.

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Movie Review: Hello, Love, Goodbye

{movie review}, hello, love, goodbye.

Whoever thought of pairing Alden Richards with Kathryn Bernardo in this bittersweet love story is a genius, proven by the film’s continued success in the box-office.

Relatable, realistic but light and humorous tale of the ups and downs of the lives of the OFWs in Hong Kong.

Hello, Love, Goodbye is a relatable, realistic tale of the ups and downs of Overseas Filipino Workers’ (OFWs) life in Hong Kong. A light, humorous version which does not diminish the harsh, stark reality of their ordeals, it touches on the different kinds of love: romantic love, love for family, sibling love, love for money, self-love.

This post was originally planned as a Twitter thread but alas, the space does not suffice for a review of the most awaited Filipino film of the year: the pairing of Alden Richards and Kathryn Bernardo, both from rival networks, under the direction of the amazing Cathy Garcia-Molina in the movie Hello, Love, Goodye.

Which is proving to be a genius business move, grossing almost Php 35 million in its opening day ! 

To date, it continues to rake in millions, averaging 35 million pesos a day, and showing in 450 cinemas (and counting). That does not include international show dates, of course.

Images from Metro.Style  

I watched Hello, Love, Goodbye in a full-packed cinema at the U.P. Town Center, skipping the long line through online ticket reservation. (Really, utilising the cinemas’ online ticket reservation/purchase can enhance your movie-viewing experience. Just go to the cinemas’ website.)

So, here it goes: my review of Hello, Love, Goodbye.

Story: Relatable, realistic tale of the ups and downs of OFWs’ life in Hong Kong. A light, humorous version which does not diminish the harsh, stark reality of their ordeals. Touches on the diff kinds of love: romantic love, love for family, sibling love, love for money, self-love.

Supporting cast: Every one of them, down to the Chinese girl with disability effectively contributed in gluing the story into one tight, coherent plot.

Kathryn Bernardo: Her acting reminds me of Jaclyn Jose (another exceptionally talented Filipina actress), using only eyes, mouth and tremor/tone of voice to express a multitude of emotions instead of the usual ear-splitting screams and hair-pulling antics we see in Fil movies. Kathryn is very convincing as a hard-pressed, overworked domestic helper torn between family responsibility and chasing her own dreams, and a strong woman whose mind rules over her heart.

Alden Richards: His acting is hypnotizing and compelling. He made me want to wring his neck, laugh with him, laugh AT him, pity him, cry with him, admire him – all in a span of almost 2 hours. He’ll make you feel the character and the emotions he’d internalized for his role without you knowing it. I bet if the role calls for it, he can make viewers worship him to the heavens or curse him to hell. He’s made for the big screen, not just TV. A movie of the same, if not, of a higher calibre should be his follow-up project, not a TV series. Or he can make them both at the same time.

Direction: Direk Cathy is truly a master in bringing out the main characters of Ethan and Joy–flaws and all– from Alden and Kathryn. There were no traces of any conscious effort to act them out: they became Ethan and Joy. The director ingrained them so much in the two main leads that these characters came alive to make us smile, swoon, cry, and hope. I loved that the director made them exhibit tempered, polished acting, rendering the film more powerful and loud with all its meanings and lessons without being overly dramatic.

Cinematography: The panoramic views of Hong Kong landscape and its inner streets and infrastractures were awesome. However, (and this is for all Filipino films, not just HLG), I wish we could learn from American and foreign cinematography, when the timing to zoom in on an actor’s face is done at the correct, exact time and scene. 

For example, that confrontation scene in Ethan’s apartment would have been more powerful if the cameras focused more on their faces, instead of their profiles or from a certain distance. The blink of the eye, the intake of breath, the flare of the nostrils, and other facial expressions can communicate in ways more than words, and make the audience more rooted and invested in the characters and the film as a whole. Try to notice the majority of American films who do this. 

Ok. That’s it. That’s my review. 

I think it’s safe to say a sequel should be forthcoming. And it’s non-negotiable. (Please?)

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars      5/5

Want to read my recent Movie Reviews? Click HERE and HERE .

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4 thoughts on “Movie Review: Hello, Love, Goodbye”

I love visiting the Philippines. Korea does not have as many beautiful islands as you do. I’m comingbn back again this summer

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• Hello, Love, Goodbye Review: Love and Sacrifices

By: Iman Mensenares

“It is never a question of love”.

Hello, Love, Goodbye was another much-awaited and intriguing movie of 2019, aside from it is Cathy Garcia-Molina who is known for her award-winning romantic comedy films, but it is also the first Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards movie – two of the big celebrities from rival networks. The film tackles different types of love; self-love, familiar love, and unconditional love; and how it leads us to sacrifices (I hope that didn’t spoil the whole film yet).

This movie will give you a roller coaster of emotions. Started with the dramatic story of Joy (Kathryn Bernardo) who epitomize the story of every OFW that is always busy, street-smart, and on the rush. A person who will do everything to provide her family and fulfill her dreams. Then, Ethan (Alden Richards), a happy-go-lucky man and chikboy whose life unexpectedly changed when he meets Joy.

A new Kathryn was depicted as she showed her goofy-side while proving us her award-winning acting, as always. Alden who makes our heart pump with his pogi looks and charming smile is also perfect for his role. Surprisingly, there was a chemistry between the two and it took us to a new level of kilig .

The other cast are also commendable! Joross Gamboa, Jeffrey Tan, Kakai Bautista, Lovely Abella, and Maymay Entrata brought laughter and giggles to the audience with their funny characters. While veteran actors Maricel Laxa and Lito Pimentel did not let us down with their artistry.

Cinematography is on point as the shots of the fast-pacing and busy street of Hong Kong made every scene more striking and relevant to the story. Haven’t I mentioned the OPM songs in the soundtrack yet? Hayyy, the feels! Direk Cathy once again made us shed tears yet filled our hearts with love, kudos direk!

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Hello, Love, Goodbye [movie reaction]

Should the role of Joy should have been given to Liza Soberano?

A recent issue this 2023 is that actress Liza Soberano claimed that she was also considered for the role of Joy. However, in my opinion, I think that Kathryn was perfect for the role of Joy and not Liza.

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Hello, Goodbye, Love (2019)

Review of hello, goodbye, love (2019), directed by catherine garcia-molina.

Having come from a city with a huge population of Filipino immigrants, it would’ve been impossible to not hear about the many wonders that the Philippines offers. And, of course, one of the things that many people love to gush about are Filipino dramas. All my Southeast Asian friends in general love Filipino dramas and never shut u about how great they are. It’s only until recently that I began to venture outside of my comfort zone and begin to consume entertainment that’s outside of Korea (besides film, I watch film from anywhere), but this movie right here was my first Filipino movie I ever watched.

Netflix actually recommended this to me. It was at the very top banner, I was bored, and so I thought hey I might as well give this a try. I didn’t even read the synopsis about what this was about, nor did I bother to look it up. If I had, I would’ve discovered that this movie is currently the highest-grossing Filipino movie of all time and that both of the leads are super famous.

Anyways, I was in for a surprise. Let’s begin the review!

I want to start this review off by saying that I honestly know nothing about Filipino culture and society, so if something I say sounds ignorant or just stupid, feel free to shoot me a message and inform me of my sin.

Our main character in this film is Joy, a Filipino domestic work helper in Hong Kong. At the very beginning of the film, if you’re not informed about this phenomena, you can deduce that a lot of women are there to work this way and that if they risk losing their job or can’t line up another contract in time, they get deported. This is how our main character meets the male lead: Ethan. She’s illegally still here because her employer has cut her contract in half—she can’t afford to pay her the legal minimum, which she tries to let Joy go, but Joy begs to stay at half the rate. We see a lot of drama at this job, as the daughter seems autistic or mentally incapacitated, the mother is touchy about not doing things right and on time, and the grandmother just straight up hates Joy.

Joy meets Ethan while the cops are looking to arrest and deport her. Ethan is the bartender at the restaurant she’s at, he offers her a free drink because apparently he’s a womanizer, and then he follows her as she flees from the cops. How a random bartender and not the cops manages to find her is the true question I’m asking here. Anyways, he scares the shit out of her (which isn’t cool, I wouldn’t tolerate that behavior) by pretending to be the cops, she begs at his feet then realizes he’s just faking it. This begins their tumultuous game in which she kind of uses him to let off steam and hide from the cops, while he stalks her on the Internet and then keeps sending her messages.

Which, to be frank, is really creepy. I know I wouldn’t be flattered if some guy I met on the street and tried to flirt with me kept stalking me. But, in a way, she did kind of lead him on too. She made out with him to hide from the cops and, when upset, tells him to meet her and they go back to his room and almost have sex. As much as I love to drag men for their problematic behaviors, both of them are problematic here.

Some other side threads are the mother being married to a Chinese guy named Wayne who also beats her, and Joy’s dad still being in love with her mother despite her being married to this guy for the living permit to stay. It becomes obvious to all of us, even Joy, that despite her efforts to reunite the entire family in Canada, that this isn’t going to go very well. This is her background struggle, while Ethan’s is that a girl dumped him. Like I get the trauma stays with you dude, but he seems just so lost with life. Their relationship is cute throughout this, like I genuinely enjoyed seeing them meet each other in between side hustles and like slurping down a bowl of noodles in less than five minutes then peacing out. I usually don’t like romance but I dig this.

It’s a very young adult coming-of-age story. We have these two young people trying to make lives for themselves overseas, which really isn’t easy. But then they find solace in each other, despite the ending being kind of sad. It shows to me that because they live overseas and in a big city, they are unable to be together. The hustle and grind for a better life, to provide for the family, will always come first, as well as the thought of chasing after your dreams. Which I absolutely love this message, because Joy didn’t ditch everything she worked for just to be with this guy. It sucks if you’re super into the romance, but I personally enjoyed it.

Some fun little tidbits I noticed as I was watching: some absolutely stunning shots of Hong Kong and the main characters. The random fashion show that serves no purpose except to bring the ex back into Ethan’s life and create some drama (to be honest, think the film could’ve dropped that and it still would’ve been fine). The way that the characters mix English and Tagalog (is that normal? I find it so cute but also kind of forced at times in this film). The bromance and the sisterly love. It’s all well-done.

Overall Thoughts

It’s a cute movie. I’ll give it that. It was worth the time spent watching it because I genuinely enjoyed it. A bit of a problematic start with both of our main characters, but I’ll overlook it at times. I think that the ending really made it worth it for me, because often women push away their dreams and aspirations for a guy that doesn’t treat them as good as they deserve. Ethan treated her pretty well in this movie, but she would’ve had a better life in Canada. And if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be. If you love someone you need to learn to let them go in the long run. Give this a shot if you are vaguely interested in the premise and have some time to spare.

Rating: 4/5

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Hello, Love, Goodbye (2019)

Genre: drama / romance, duration: 118 minuten, country: philippines, directed by: cathy garcia-molina, stars: kathryn bernardo , alden richards and maymay entrata, imdb score: 7,3  (1.365), releasedate: 31 july 2019.

Hello, Love, Goodbye plot

"If you love me, why are you making me choose?" In Hong Kong, two Filipino immigrants are destined to change each other's lives forever. Joy is a feisty, poor graduate nurse who works as a domestic worker in Hong Kong. Although she excels at her job and enjoys the friendship of other domestic workers, she plans to leave town soon. Hong Kong is just a stopover. Determined to live a better life, far from her deprived childhood, Joy wants to succeed in Canada. During her stay in Hong Kong, Joy meets bartender Ethan.

Actors and actresses

Joy Fabregas

Ethan Del Rosario

Mary Dale Fabregas

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Hello, Love, Goodbye

• A bartender romances a domestic helper despite the fact that she is moving to Canada.
• The film centers on the love story of Joy (Bernardo) and Ethan (Richards), Filipino workers based in Hong Kong. Ethan, a bartender, is keen on romantically pursuing Joy, a domestic helper who is wholly dedicated to providing for her family. — Wikipedia
• In the bustling high of cramped Hong Kong, two OFWs are destined to change each other's lives forever. JOY is a spunky poor millennial who works as a domestic helper in Hong Kong. While she excels in her job and enjoys the friendship of many other empowered domestic helpers, she plans to leave the city soon. Hong Kong is only her stopover. Determined to live a greater life far from her depraved childhood, Joy has big dreams of succeeding in Canada or wherever her dreams may take her. In her journey to achieving her goals, Joy meets Pinoy bartender ETHAN. Ethan is a sweetheart playboy already building a permanent life in Hong Kong. In a few years, he will officially become a resident in the city. After escaping responsibilities all his life, Ethan now wants to commit to a career and to his family (who also reside in Hong Kong). Joy and Ethan soon develop a friendship. The two become each other's joy against the grime and grind of Hong Kong. So much so that when lonely nights come, they fully surrender to each other's comfort. Still, they warn each other: this is just "for now", we are not permanent. Nonetheless, as they overcome more and more problems in Hong Kong together, Joy and Ethan's love deepens. They become each other's savior-helping one another mend their lifelong wounds and realize their ambitions. They wonder, can their "for now" turn to for ever? But what happens when Joy's dreams take her away from Hong Kong? How can their love possibly survive? — Star Cinema

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Review by Movie Chaser Reviews

Hello, love, goodbye 2019 ★★.

Watched Jul 31 , 2019

Movie Chaser Reviews’s review published on Letterboxd:

Watched Hello, Love, Goodbye at SM North EDSA Cinema 6. Its first hour & last 15 minutes tells an interesting, heartening, compelling and high-spirited OFW story fueled with great acting from Kathryn Bernardo.

But Director Cathy Garcia Molina defecates those usual Star Cinema formulaic SHIT that stinks the middle part of the story TOO BAD!

The first hour of Hello Love Goodbye sets up an interesting & heartening plot & main character. Kathryn Bernardo portrays an empowering existential libertarian take of a Pinay OFW torn between her JOY dreams & obligation. But Director Cathy Garcia Molina poops many formulaic Star Cinema SHIT ruining the film.

Hello Love Goodbye reminds me of Kita Kita Hello Love Goodbye could've followed the cinematic style and storytelling structure of Kita Kita to be a great film.

Kathryn Bernardo❤️Alden Richards is comparable with Alessandra De Rossi ❤️ Empoy Marquez #Kathden ~= #Alempoy

If only Direk Sigrid Bernardo be the director instead of Cathy Garcia-Molina Hello Love Goodbye could've been a great, well-made and well-treated film.

Hello Love Goodbye works only at its first hour and its last 15 minutes of the film. The film lays out an interesting and compelling plot as well as a Kathryn Bernardo main character as Joy that we would all sympathize and root for. The concept of spiritually living in transit in a strange foreign land working hard to make a desired reality happen one day is the film's conceit that really hits hard to all of us.

In this modern, demanding and even depriving world we are living in, we are all racing against time to reach our desired goals in life or else we would never achieve it. No time for JOY, no time for LOVE, no time to enjoy our current disposition NOW. This is pretty SMART stuff for a Filipino OFW story.

We always watch Filipino films about OFWs where the OFW main character always sacrifices his/her life and personal well-being to fulfill his/her responsibilities to the family he/she left behind in the Philippines. This is a long worn-out story and we had enough of it.

Hello Love Goodbye turns the table around. Instead of highlighting the selfless sacrifice of a typical Filipino OFW, the film smartly tackles an examination of a lonely OFW's existence in a foreign land balancing what he/she really likes against what he/she is supposed to do. I believe Hello Love Goodbye opens this paradigm which really hooks my attention and root for the story.

Kita Kita almost touches this ingenious examination of OFW but never gets there as Direk Sigrid Bernardo never intends to portray such theme. Direk Cathy Garcia-Molina since "My Perfect You", "The Hows of Us" and "Three Words To Forever" is exploring and digging further her creative mind in coming up with ingeniously joyous Filipino stories while keeping that worn-out and obsolete Star Cinema Filipino family rom-com formula.

Hello, Love, Goodbye is Kathryn Bernardo at her BEST so far. Good thing she escapes and breaks off from the tight-bound clutches of her constant leading man, Daniel Padilla. Therefore, Kathryn Bernardo is truly FREE as an actress and as a woman. Without Daniel Padilla at her side, Kathryn Bernardo did not fall down but instead rose higher than what she used to be just as an eye-candy amateur teeny bop damsel of a brute teenage heartthrob debonair.

Kathryn Bernardo as Joy in Hello Love Goodbye successfully and convincingly emulates the existential crisis a Filipino OFW has to face as she braves working in transit in a strange foreign land while examining her choices and personal well-being in life. There is a strong libertarian take on Hello Love Goodbye that makes me like the film at first. And Kathryn Bernardo's great acting make that happen loud and bright on the big SM Cinema big screen. Again, this is smart stuff and Kathryn Bernardo as Joy would be one of the most striking Filipino movie characters that I have watched. At least on the film's strong first hour.

Alden Richards plays Ethan who is more of a sassy comic relief yet effective MPDG for Kathryn Bernardo as Joy. His character as Ethan started out as a male creep stalking Kathryn Bernardo as Joy in a misogynist distasteful manner that even Senator Risa Hontiveros would never approve of.

I guess Direk Cathy Garcia Molina is trying to make a Daniel Padilla out of Alden Richards with Daniel Padilla always bullying or tormenting Kathryn Bernardo for her to love him. Ahem! Direk Cathy. May Safe Spaces Law na tayo thanks to Senator Risa Hontiveros. Any naive sexualized young male Filipino doing a Daniel Padilla or Alden Richards to a Kathryn Bernardo is a crime punishable by fines or at worst, jail time.

But I really DO NOT MIND Alden Richards portraying as a sex-crazy playboy luring Kathryn Bernardo into a one-night stand. I believe his flawed character gives merit to the powerful first hour and what Hello Love Goodbye is supposed to be. But I do wonder if Direk Cathy Garcia Molina inject that sex maniac character flaw for the male MPDG to justify that one-night stand motel scene. Seems Direk Cathy and the Filipino masses are really after Kathryn Bernardo shoving her face to Alden Richard's bare muscular chest. OMG! No wonder Daniel Padilla never passionately supports Hello Love Goodbye! 😂

I actually like the unusual pairing of the troubled & serious Kathryn Bernardo with the carefree & hypersexual Alden Richards. This unusual pairing reminds me of Alexandra de Rossi and Empoy Marquez of Kita Kita. The Kathden dynamic in Hello Love Goodbye could have been a more improved, more substantial version of Alempoy in Kita Kita. Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards interacting in Hello Love Goodbye is similar to those sassy Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) teenage romcoms that I get to watch on HBO Red Channel. Only, the Kathden may be something more meaningful than a unusual campy romantic/sexual pairing.

Yup! The first half of Hello Love Goodbye really sets us up for a promising story that I am eager to watch. Until the second half came which quickly abandons this great promising story for Direk Cathy Garcia Molina to POOP to us the standard Star Cinema formulaic SHIT that STINKS already!

Hello Love Goodbye starts well. The film establishes an interesting, heartfelt OFW story, introduces a charismatic, relatable and empowering female Kathryn Bernardo lead character and builds up an uncanny yet endearing relationship between Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards. Am really expecting the real plot to unravel on the second half. However, I got appalled when Hello Love Goodbye suddenly shifts into your typical standard shitty Star Cinema family romcom formula that is so uncalled for! This really RUINED the movie! Depriving and ROBBING us of a great story to unravel. NABITIN na, NAGOYO pa tayo sa Hello Love Goodbye na ito!

From an inspiring, heartfelt and empowering OFW story on the first hour; Hello, Love, Goodbye suddenly drops everything and shifts into a cheesy standard bloated Star Cinema romcom love story with lots of these shit:

1. Unnecessary kilig moments, 2. Blatant over exposure of unnecessary supporting charactrers 3. Instant falling-in-love that does not feel earned and 4. Speedy resolutions that does not make a big impact to the hearts and minds of the audience.

So Cathy Garcia Molina still adopts her standard Star Cinema family romcom formula into the promising Hello Love Goodbye story even when the film does not really need it! Resulting to a big pile of mainstream Star Cinema SHIT taking over the 2nd half of the film.

The Star Cinema formulaic SHIT forced upon on the 2nd part of Hello, Love, Goodbye feels like a typical shitty Star Cinema story of its own. Therefore, Hello, Love, Goodbye NEVER continues, NEVER finishes and CUTS SHORT its REAL and promising OFW story that it masterfully sets up at the start. We are DEPRIVED of watching a great story until the end in Hello, Love, Goodbye.

The typical Star Cinema family romcom formula that Direk Cathy Garcia Molina is fond to insert is not bad always. This overused family formula does work well for some of the following Cathy Molina's films: 1. "You Changed My Life" starring Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz 2. "My Perfect You" starring Gerald Anderson and Pia Wurtzbach and 3. "The Hows of Us" starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla...... But NOT "Hello Love Goodbye"!

Instead, this Star Cinema formula injected at the middle part of Hello, Love, Goodbye causes a sudden change of the story, making me feel that I am not watching the continuation of its promising first half. This Star Cinema romcom formula which thrills the Filipino masses, unfortunately causes a big void at the 2nd half of the real promising story of Hello Love Goodbye. Which is TOO BAD and VERY DISAPPOINTING!

It is really STUPID for Star Cinema ever since to forcibly insert that singular usual repetitive worn-out family romcom formula on most Star Cinema movies of varying stories. FUCK! SO STUPID INDEED!

While this worn-out formula works on some films, it FAILS miserably and RUINS so many Star Cinema films. Including "Hello, Love, Goodbye" as its latest casualty!

The audience never gets to watch the REAL, more heartfelt OFW story of Kathryn Bernardo as Joy and her libertarian existential adventures with Alden Richards as Ethan. Instead, we get to watch another typical Star Cinema formulaic romantic SHIT which should not be part of the real story.

Just like any other typical Star Cinema films Hello Love Goodbye is so BLOATED. 1. Maymay Entrata is so underutilized! Although she has a charming potential to have an Pinay HK OFW movie of her own. 2. Alden Richards as Ethan's personal existential struggle may not be necessary but should not be emphasized as much as the struggles of Kathryn Bernardo as Joy. 3. Alden Richards as Ethan's family should never be one of the main focus of the film. 4. Alden and Kathryn's friends should never overstay their welcome to the real story. 5. Maxine Medina is a beautiful yet useless distraction to the movie! 6. Those kilig scenes are so forced upon Alden Richards and Kathryn Bernardo. The REAL story does not even require for Ethan and Joy to madly fall in love and become sassy sweethearts. 7. Finally, the interesting sub-story of Maricel Laxa as Joy's mother who is forced to marry a foreigner to secure a resident's visa is so not explored further. Too bad!

These bloated 2nd half of Hello Love Goodbye gives us unnecessary SHIT while DEPRIVING us of the real stakes of the story that really matter.

I assume that Cathy Garcia Molina intend to portray the over-glamorized 2nd hour to be Ethan and Joy's existence in the NOW. With this, the film really falters.

But Hello, Love, Goodbye redeemed itself on the last 15 minutes of the film. It is actually the real resolution to the existential OFW crisis that both Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards are facing. But it is TOO LATE! A big void is left on the 2nd half of the film which fails to bear fruit the promising OFW story that the film first introduces to us.

Hello, Love, Goodbye could have worked if its 2nd hour is a more serious, more composed, yet truly heartfelt & intelligently memorable adventures solely between Kathryn Bernardo as Joy and Alden Richards as Ethan. Both would continue to explore their libertarian existence together either as lovers or bffs. As they continue to work their asses off in Hong Kong, they continue to examine their existence, wants, needs, priorities and obligations. And that is where their prospect about love in the world of constant demands and uncertainties take place. All other supporting characters interact at their minimum as the real Hello Love Goodbye story is soley focused on Alden and Kathryn. This is how the movie should be if it were serious enough to be a great movie.

I guess Hello Love Goodbye could've worked if it follows the story and cinematic style of Kita Kita. I do wish Cathy Garcia Molina consulted with Sigrid Bernardo on how to make Hello, Love, Goodbye work.

Hello, Love, Goodbye is really a missed opportunity for Star Cinema. Rather than making a great movie which is a worthy follow-up to the great Quezon's Game movie 9/10.

Star Cinema chose to inject the usual mainstream formulaic SHIT that really leaves a void on the potentially inspiring OFW story which really shortchanges the audience outright!

P.S. As Hello, Love, Goodbye is an exhibition of Kathryn Bernardo at her best Alden Richards at first plays a convincing & effective uncanny free-spirited character worthy of a companion for Kathryn Bernardo. Too bad Direk Cathy Garcia Molina fails to handle Alden Richards's good talent well in the film as she foolishly swings his character from a free-spirited sex-crazed playboy into a more serious yet passionate romantic.

With this, Alden Richards still performs his best in his previous film, "Imagine You and Me" as Direk Mike Tuveria really puts Alden's talent to good use to make the ALDUB film work somehow.

"The Hows Of Us" may not be a great film. But its strength is its middle part which Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla exhibits that magical romantic feeling artfully around an old house that is really glamorously teasing our emotions. Some scenes before that mid-scene and the later scenes after are somewhat unnecessary and could be SHIT. But it didn't damage the story for its mid-scene is awesome.

"Hello, Love, Goodbye" is the opposite. The first half and the last 15 minutes of the film are GOLD in the story. However, the middle second half of the film suddenly turns to SHIT which irreversibly DAMAGED the integrity of the entire story and film.

Finally, I also complain on how Hello, Love, Goodbye visually depicts the beautiful Hong Kong. The unusually bright lighting on various Hong Kong settings are slightly irritating to the eyes. I can't really determine if Hello, Love, Goodbye has poor cinematography or Direk Cathy Molina intends to have this visual flaw on purpose to support the real theme & message of the film.

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