Sara and Zak, an aspiring musician and a yearning son, find themselves in a series of almost-but-not-quite-romantic encounters as they follow an upcoming indie-folk band. The two are struggling dreamers in their 20s who discover what it means to grow up as they experience the joy and pain of love and loss, accompanied by the music of Ben&Ben.
Last Song Syndrome
Philippines
Philippines
The structure is pretty unusual. The two meet at the start, stuck on the same song, liking the same bands. The scene feels a little awkward. The leads eventually charm their way through it, even though they're both way too young to be making those references.
And then they head off in different directions, feeling somehow that something special just happened. The movie keeps them apart, exploring their very separate lives, their very different circumstances. They share similar orbits, but manage to keep missing each other. We see them with other people, or pining for other people, all the while the memory of their meeting lingering in the back of their minds, a tune that they can't get out of…
Dear Kathang Isip sequence, pakyu!!! Nagkaroon kami ng instant connection ni kuyang ka-one seat apart ko sa sinehan kasi pareho kaming napatili.
Ang ganda lang na sa kalagitnaan ng pelikula muling nagkita sina Sarah at Zak. Someone said that two people don't necessarily meet to complete each other. They could still be whole as individuals, but they share things that neither would be capable of doing alone. Para sa akin, ito rin 'yung pinaka diwa ng peliks.
Shoutout nga pala kay letterboxd user @jekoaguado na naka eksena si Gabbi HAHAHAHA!
p.s. gigil na talaga ako kay elijah ha!!!! ang cute niya po talaga lord!!! ilayo niyo sa'kin 'yan!!!!!!
Two characters who look like supporting characters in their own stories
I felt this too fucking much
I just want to say support your fellow Letterboxer @jadecastro and watch this sweet, heartwarming, feelgood tale about music and how it can bring people together!
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
There's a scene here where the two leads, still virtually strangers, are confronted with a major setback. The stumble around, groping in the dark, and find each other through music.
It's one of my favorite scenes of the year.
The first scene with Sarah playing on the guitar inside the music store was me all throughout college, always dropping by the music store and playing on the piano, always promising that someday I can buy it--so I did what every human being would do and CRY, never stopping until the credits rolled.
This hit me more than La La Land or any posh Hollywood chase-your-dreams movie because putangina ang kirot. Putangina ang hirap. Ramdam mo ang sakit kasi nandito ka rin, facing the same damn problems. Nakakapagod. Ramdam ko lahat ng linya ni Sarah sa eksena nung graduation gift kasi 'yun yung sinabi ko sa mga magulang ko.
Isandaang taon na ng pelikulang Pilipino at putangina ang hirap ipakita…
One of the better Filipino romance flicks of the recent years. With LSS, Jade Castro goes back to his Endo roots, bringing an infectiously feel-good music-filled film about the joy of falling in love and watching your loved ones succeed and find happiness in life. Gabbi Garcia and Khalil Ramos's on-screen chemistry is irresistibly charming; Tuesday Vargas steals the show.
LSS was the first film I watched for Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2019 and it did not disappoint. I didn't know what to expect for a film that heavily relies on a single band (Ben&Ben) for its entire soundtrack, but surprisingly, it worked. Para kang nagka-karaoke while singing along to Ben&Ben songs with the characters on-screen, and it wasn't just us, you could hear the entire theater sing along as if they knew all the words by heart.
The shots and color-grading were great especially during intimate scenes between Sarah (Gabbi) and Zack (Khalil). Their performance as two struggling young adults looking for their place in the world was very heartfelt. Sarah, a girl who wants to pursue her dreams…
this is my first encounter with ben&ben and uh... this will be the last
Castro directs a feature-length music video for Ben&Ben, and it all felt like an awkward Kathang Isip. The barrage of cameos was a bit distracting, too.
P. S. A music video starring Khalil Ramos and featuring Superboooiii Elijah Canlas -- was it all foreshadowing? Chz.
A sincere and sweet film about the frustrations of navigating life without really living it, and how comforting love (and good music!) can be
Kinda loved the musical-esque singing along to music segments, REALLY loved the "Kathang Isip" scene, loved the leads, loved Tuesday Vargas, loved that the film takes a realistic viewpoint on what it's like to try and make something of yourself as a young person in the Philippines, WITHOUT concerning itself too much on being realistic. kinda loved this a lot
ACTUAL REVIEW:
LSS (Last Song Syndrome) follows Zak (Khalil Ramos) and Sarah (Gabbi Garcia) and their vastly interspersed lives. After meeting and befriending each other on a P2P commute because of their love for Ben&Ben’s music, the film focuses on the two protagonists and the lives they lead, going through their personal experiences of love, joy, loss, and pain within the background of the indie music scene.
The two leads, Khalil Ramos and Gabbi Garcia, are wonderful in their roles; the former conveying an artist struggling to reach for her dreams, and the latter going through a sense of personal and social identity loss. Although the two are fantastic in bringing out the core themes and emotional weight of the…
