QCinema 2017 | The Write Moment tries to expose the selfishness of "hugot"

Hugot (v. literally "to draw" or "pull out." In this context - something (i.e. a story or narrative) that is deeply sentimental and/or emotional, usually in the context of unrequited love.)

When a writer-slash film editor (Jerald Napoles) breaks up with his longtime girlfriend (Valeen Montenegro), it's devastating. He decides to write about it in the form of a script, which reads like your run of the mill "hugot" romantic movie. When the script begins to literally take over his life, things get complicated.

On paper, there's a lot to like about The Write Moment: the movie recognizes that in any relationship, there are always two sides of a story; stories of "hugot" are usually built on one-sided personal narratives. The movie then goes on to critique that idea - through externalizing these "hugot" stories in reality, we see that the one-sidedness removes the agency of the other party, and that's just plain wrong. This wrongness is embodied best during a sequence that could have been lifted straight from the ending of a Star Cinema romance. It's supposed to be a moment of happiness for all concerned, but everything about it is off. That's what happens when one tries to force an idealization that shouldn't be forced - heck, look what happened to the characters in 2012's Ruby Sparks.

In that regard, Jerald Napoles fits the role nicely. He's funny, charming, yet there's a certain amount of creepiness about the whole affair and he manages to pull it off without overdoing it. The film also has its share of hilarious scenes, the best of which is a mundane looking sequence involving a snarky photographer.

That said, the film suffers from some heavy flaws. Ultimately, the film is too roughly constructed and too loose, making the film feel like a pastiche of barely connected scenes. This rears its ugly head in the middle of the film, where the film gets lost trying to set itself up, and during the ending, where nothing is truly concluded. It's a shame, too, since the film had an interesting thesis and it ultimately built up to nothing much.

While it does address some interesting concepts, and while I do appreciate how it critiques the inherent problems in "hugot" stories, The Write Moment could have benefited from further refinements to its own script - as it is, the whole thing feels pretty rough.