Movie Review: The Hows of Us

I’m not a fan of Filipino movies, and hate love stories with the same plot. But I’m
a fan of Kathniel films. As a fan, I want to watch all of their movies and TV shows. Since
The Hows of Us was the latest movie I’ve watched, I am giving that a movie review. The
Hows of Us is a 2018 Philippine romantic drama film directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina
and starring Kathryn Bernardo (George) and Daniel Padilla (Primo). The movie breaks a
lot of records in Box-Office.

George was a pre-med student when she first met Primo at a debate in college.
Primo eventually proved his worth to George with his persistence and passion, and they
became a couple. They agreed to live together in the house of George’s Tita Lola
(Susan Africa). While Primo’s dream to be a musician seemed to be going nowhere, so
was George’s dream to become a doctor. So one stormy night, along with their high bills
and disconnected electricity, they fight and simply exploded between the two of them.

In the first half of this film, we witness a sweet romantic relationship becoming
toxic because Primo’s apparent irresponsibility, insensitivity and selfishness, which
caused poor George to make one sacrifice after the other. This was a one-sided unfair
relationship where the imbalanced contributions of the two parties eventually caused it
to self-destruct, and a separation was clearly bound to happen. Their 7 years
relationship was ended. The second half of the film documented the efforts of Primo to
win George back.

This is Kathryn Bernardo’s film. George had all the big memorable acting
moments—the two times when she realized enough was enough and she needed to
stand for her own interests and take the reins back in her life. Kathryn gave these two
difficult scenes her whole heart and soul, owning them with such a raw display of
overwhelming emotions. Maturity certainly became Kathryn as an actress.

Daniel Padilla’s character Primo was written as a plot device that brought
dramatic changes to George’s pre-planned life, causing her to make major decisions.
The story was never about Primo, and all about George. Daniel wisely recognized this
and generously allowed Kathryn to shine, while he underplayed. Even during those key
confrontational moments, Primo kept relatively quiet, never putting up a counter-
argument in his defense. As a real loveteam, Daniel and Kathryn know how to play for
their fans. Despite the dramatic story, there were still many scenes of them playing it
cute all for the sake of romantic thrills. That whole segment about Primo and George
trying to live together again with that line of tape between them was never meant to be
realistic, only “kilig”.

My first impression is that the plot is a real tearjerker because the movie shows
the ups and downs of a real-life relationship. It’s like watching a real couple. The movie
also showed beautiful scenic places in Amsterdam. The Hows of Us did not disappoint
me although it started slow and I felt anxious to know what will happen next. But as the
movie progressed, I came to a conclusion that this is KathNiel’s best work. I’m looking
forward to seeing them again in big screen.

This is a movie that showed scenes that can happen in real life. The difficulties,
commitment, sacrifices, and patience of a struggling couple and both sides of a
relationship are shown here. To top it off, there are lots of quotable quotes that serve as
valuable pieces of advice. While watching it, I experienced hate, sadness, excitement,
and happiness. I can’t help but become teary-eyed at some scenes and cried in the
theatre.

Instead of many hows, there were more whys. Apparently, the idealistic answer
to all of those whys, aside from Primo’s irresistible charm, is love. Selfless love was the
only how of them. The movie showed a selfless kind of love. It is for people who put
their partners first before themselves.