Here’s my review for the film Friend Zone which stars Napchat Siangsomboon as Palm and Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul as Gink. The film was directed by Chayanop Boonprakob.

Friend Zone is your typical love story of best friends turning into lovers. Only its a slow burn for that to happen. That was the actual twist of the film and the driving force that moves the main characters Palm and Gink.

Acting wise I am very impressed with both Napchat and Pimchanok’s acting. Whether you put them in a comedic scene or some more serious moments, you enjoy seeing them onscreen not just because they look great but also their acting looks more natural.

FRIEND ZONE is also one of those movies that subtly tease you to travel and explore Asia, mainly Thailand though. Its a shame that they never did scenes here in the Philippines.

Boooo

Still, its a nice treat to see some representation for the country in this movie albeit in a small cameo role for actress (?) Claudia Barretto. She even sings the Filipino parts to the movie’s theme song…

There’s substance and a lot of feels for the film than I actually expected. But then again, it doesn’t speak for every situation. It’s just one of the many. I did like how the narrative when out and told the story of Palm and Gink. They do so with a group of men talking about how long they’ve been living in the friendzone.

As we get closer and closer to the climax. We see how Palm has slowly changed and goes out of his way to be there for “The One”. It’s also utterly devastating to see how things panned out as the story progressed. Oops, I can’t spoil any further though.

I also want to point out that the two main stars for the film resemble Luis Manzano and Angel Locsin in some scenes. I don’t know why, but they really do.

There’s also cheating in this story, so if you’re a cheater or you’re currently cheating on your partner, umiwas iwas ka, baka matamaan ka.

Friend Zone Verdict:

9/10

Its another feel-good movie that has a catchy vibe and very millennial tourist feel to it. Both leads have onscreen chemistry. The story may have been done to death but Friend Zone has a few tricks up its sleeve. It won’t make you ugly cry but it will certainly rouse your emotions to some extent. Sad that they didn’t really build up Palm’s backstory to give his decisions more impact and gravitas but hey, its still a good try.

Friend Zone opens April 10!