I Love You, Hater is rom-com fast food

Okay, enough rage, let's chill and watch some rom-coms. JoshLia is one of my favorite local love teams. Because these two kids are so talented, they can make a relatively safe, run of the mill romantic comedy like I Love You, Hater quite the enjoyable experience.

Joko (Joshua Garcia) pretends to be working in New York, but the truth is, he got bamboozled by a bunch of scammers. Zoey (Julia Barretto) finds out that her dad has another family, which makes her even more determined to make it in the world. In a plot development much like The Apprentice, but cuter and less Trumpy, both of them apply to be the assistant for Sasha (Kris Aquino), who makes a lot of Youtube videos. One wonders how Sasha makes a profit, since Youtube demonetizes shit like crazy. Maybe she has a Patreon.

For a movie titled I Love You, Hater, there isn't a lot of hatin', but a whole lotta lovin'. Zoey falls in love with Joko (and the feeling's mutual), but there's a catch: early on in the employment process, to get one up on Zoey, Joko said he was gay. So Zoey thinks that the love is one sided, even when it's not. 

There's a scene near the middle of the film where Joko holds up two paper mache masks, and asks Zoey which one she prefers. Zoey picks Joko himself, because the film is about abandoning one's fake facades, being true to yourself and being truthful towards others. It's simple enough, but it can also mean a lot of other things in different contexts. Since Joko pretends to be gay, being honest with one's self could also be conflated with coming out of the closet, or reclaiming one's own identity. But that really isn't the case here; Joko's charade doesn't have any additional meaning. It is merely a contrivance, a means to create dramatic conflict.

But the film manages to create a few emotionally powerful moments anyway, thanks to the prowess of its two young leads. Overall, the film is neither here nor there, but it is entertaining and sweet enough that it gets a pass.  And for the moment, that's okay. I Love You, Hater is the rom-com equivalent of fast food: you go into it knowing exactly what you came for. It's something you consume for the mouth-feel and the experience. It will be filling, it might even be delicious. But once you're done with the meal, it fades away. 'Okay,' for now, is enough. But in a continually evolving genre with films that push the genre to new creative heights, one day 'okay' will be left by the wayside.