Gaya Sa Pelikula episode 1 is out!
The wait is finally over because the first episode of Gaya Sa Pelikula has officially premiered. We’ve been hearing so much about this new rom-com series, created and written by Juan Miguel Severo, directed by JP Habac, starring Ian Pangilinan and Paolo Pangilinan and produced by Globe Studios. Now it’s finally out.
And since we have those links out of the way, let’s really get into it.
Gaya Sa Pelikula is the story of two young adults, Vlad (Ian) and Karl (Paolo), who end up cohabitating in order to escape or solve their individual problems. Vlad doesn’t want to go home to his family and Karl just doesn’t have the money to fully pay his rent. And, as you would expect, things start to happen between these two boys as they live within the four walls of their apartment.
Are they all good? Or are they all bad? Are we in for some drama, kilig moments and tearjerker scenes? We’re going to put our bets on yes.
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Like all other pilot episodes, the first taste we get of Gaya Sa Pelikula is only meant to set everything up—to tease us, really. We are introduced to Vlad and Karl; see glimpses of their personalities as we watch Vlad drunkenly dance through a half-opened door as Karl shyly asks him to turn the music down. Our movie-loving freelance-writer/architecture student has work to get done.
They seem a mismatch, like their priorities will never align and their backgrounds too different to overcome. But then we get our moment, when the two finally (and literally) see eye-to-eye and things just click. There is this silent spark that you cannot help but wish to burn brightly. Of course, we’ve seen that moment, that utterance of “Hey, neighbor” from the trailer countless of times. But let me tell you that, with some buildup, it only tastes so much sweeter.
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As the scenes fold out one after the other, someone in the cast says something during the screening that catches my attention: “Parang ang saya (It looks so happy).” They aren’t wrong; there are laughs from everyone in attendance, sometimes because of punchlines and other times just from the reactions of everyone else in that Zoom room.
Things feel as light as they should. There is electricity as there should be. There are no furrowed brows or questioning glances. We’re all just having fun and soaking up the series that is history in the making.
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The first episode ends almost as quickly as it begins. After all, it is annoyingly only 20 minutes long. That last frame—made up of seven words split into two strong sentences—appeared way before I was ready for them to.
If we’re being objective, this is the standard—but is it my fault that I wanted to see more? I think not. It’s just a testament to the cast’s chemistry, to the direction, the writing and the production as a whole. Because if those first 20 minutes were a drag, then there might not be much else we’d care to see or hear about.
But we care and we cannot wait to see more. Fortunately, direk JP was nice enough answer my message after the early screening. I told him, honestly, that I was bitin in the best possible way. He says, “Marami pang ganap sa mga next episodes (So much more will happen in the next episodes)!”
What a tease.
Gaya Sa Pelikula Episode 1 can be streamed on YouTube/GlobeStudios.
Art Alexandra Lara
