Hearing with your Heart - A Movie Review of Isa Pa With Feelings

I've scheduled this review a week after this movie will hopefully still be in the cinemas, though I've already watched it during the first weekend it was released.

As you may have noticed, my movie reviews (as well as book reviews) have been far and in between, with the latter being mostly featured on my Goodreads account. (Let's be friends! https://www.goodreads.com/justbea) But back to the main purpose of this post (which I have been bribed with gelato by my mom to produce) is a review of a local (albeit suitable for international) film.

The story mainly features Mara (Maine Mendoza), an aspiring architect who later meets and bonds with her neighbor, Gali (Carlo Aquino), who also happens to be her sign language teacher.

Without giving much of the story (for those who have yet to see the film), Gali is shown having dance rehearsals with Mara, despite the fact that he is deaf. Mara herself, is at a crossroads on her career path and may or may not be using Gali as a distraction. Feelings abound and the line between hearing using your senses or listening to your heart becomes blurry.

Deafening in its silence, this movie is wonderfully played out in both Mara and Gali's perspective in some aspects of the film. Though it plainly shows how Mara can easily acclimate in Gali's group of friends, contrary to the fact that Gali felt like "a fish in an aquarium" when introduced to Mara's crowd.

The only thing I was hoping for this film to develop were the main characters' futures. What does Mara decide to do with herself at the end of the film? What made Gali want to strive for a scholarship abroad other than his personal passion? I mean, we don't even see his side of the family, could they have played a bigger role in the development of his beliefs?

Just things like that, so if you happen to watch the movie, tell me what you think. Maybe I'm just nitpicky and some things are best left unheard unsaid.