Braving the traffic on a Valentine’s night, it took me more than two hours to get to Quezon City from Fort Bonifacio. It was more than worth it. I have been a fan of Antoinette Jadaone’s work since That Thing Called Tadhana which makes it a given that I have eagerly anticipated the release of her latest film Alone/Together.

Prior to the release of the movie, every snippet of music, every part of the trailer was put through careful analysis by everyone. This says a lot about our thirst for quality romantic movies.

Alone/Together as a romance drama did not disappoint.

Liza Soberano owned the movie.

It is a testament on how beautiful the movie is that a few minutes into it and I can already feel myself immersing into the life of Tin (Liza Soberano), an Art Studies major at University of the Philippines with big dreams of changing the world. She has the rest of her future all planned out and all set to become a museum archivist.

She met Raf (Enrique Gil), an easy-go-lucky pre-med student from University of Santo Tomas. They fall in love with all the simplicity of college life. Then life happened.

In this movie, I did not see Liza Soberano, the actor. It was Tin with her heart full of dreams and soul full of hope. I left the movie house as a Liza Soberano fan.

Fall in love with the magnificent shots of UP Diliman.

UP has always been the home of writers, artists, and dreamers. In this movie, we find UP as the place where its students always go back to regain their flailing idealism. Offering solace from the real world that little by little hammers the dreams out of us, Alone/Together is a love letter to the university that will tirelessly comfort its students.

The movie is an ode to dreams on pause and unveiled fears.

“You’re just 27 and you’re settling for this life?” Of all the beautiful lines in the movie, that one is my favorite. It speaks of all the fears of anyone who once dreamed. Told through the lens of nostalgia, this is a love story that highlights how there is nothing more painful than remembering the future. What-Ifs and what-could-have-beens are the driving force of the movie.

Music (a.k.a. Armi Mallare’s Kapit) will make you cry.

Do yourself a favor and listen to all the songs played in the movie. There’s nothing like listening to good music while reliving all the things that could break and make us.

As of this writing, Alone/Together is showing in more than 400 theaters nationwide.