I’ve always enjoyed a cute and cuddly romance movie, especially when there’s music involved; however, One Hit Wonder, while having a bit of everything that makes for the perfect romance, comes up short when it comes to executing a decent and kind of original story. One Hit Wonder tells the story of two dreamers, Lorina and Entoy. After listening to Lorina belt out a beautiful song on the terrace of a random building, Entoy is eager to see her become a superstar. However, he doesn’t see her again until he walks into a record store 10 years later. He seeks her out because she’s an excellent singer and he’s a musician himself. While at first it feels like they have the same big dreams and goals, Lorina has some other plans. Will they both succeed? Will their love story last? You’ll have to find out by watching One Hit Wonder, but is it worth your time?
What I really enjoyed about the Filipino movie is, number one, the music of the film, which is actually very catchy and beautifully sung, and number two, the exploration of the female character’s dreams. Generic romance movies always make female leads one-dimensional. What I mean by this is that they’re either dreamers or goal-driven, ambitious individuals. What I really liked about Lorina is that she has the qualities of both of these archetypes. This is quite a realistic take, in my opinion. Oftentimes, we have to choose between dreams and goals, and sometimes you can come back to dreams; other times, your goals turn into your dreams. This makes Lorina a very grounded character; however, the film fails to fully explore this plotline and instead tries to force a romance that has zero chances of lasting.
For a romance movie, One Hit Wonder is barely a one-star film. While there is some chemistry between the two actors, there is no actual romance, and it all happens so fast, just through montages, which I genuinely didn’t enjoy. Additionally, you have to call Entoy a creep with the way he meets a girl 10 years after he last saw her and has already tried to paint her, even making her feel uncomfortable by coming back to the store she works at twice. The worst part is, he keeps asking her why she’s so paranoid. Mate, of course, she will be; she doesn’t know you.
The other thing is that both characters have single parents and are trying to navigate those relationships, especially Entoy, but we get a half-baked story there too, and I must admit the way this situation played out didn’t make sense to me, and I feel like it could’ve been explored very differently. But that is, of course, my personal opinion. The band is pretty fun, and like I’ve mentioned earlier, I like all the minor plotlines of the film, but it doesn’t expand on any of them in the right way. This is what saddens me the most, because it could’ve been a great film that would feel original thanks to the female lead.
The film is set in the mid-90s for the most part, and that bit is decently done. Of course, it’s quite cheerful, which might not have been the case at that time, but we can ignore that since it’s a romance movie. I don’t know if I can really call it a rom-com, because a lot gets lost in translation when it comes to jokes and comedy in general. I don’t think there’s anything super humorous about the film though, and there are definitely some bits that are meant to feel emotional, even if they don’t land very well.
At the end of the day, despite trying to be different, the film ends up being a cookie-cutter romance because of the lackluster execution. Additionally, the run time of the film is an hour and 50 minutes, which is quite long for such a generic story, so I feel like that definitely added to the disappointment I felt at the end of the film. The film explores old Filipino music, which is great, and I guess if you know more about it, it might actually feel very nostalgic, blended with the color-graded scenes. It might be a good starting point to learn about Filipino music as well.
In truth, I had no expectations from One Hit Wonder, but hearing the girl sing made me feel a little bit excited at the beginning of the film. However, it slowly goes downhill from that point on. Additionally, in the hopes of trying to stand out, the film tries to do too many things and still ends up being generic because it executes them all in a very typical Hollywood fashion, making it seem like an attempt at grabbing a global audience on Netflix. While I loved the fact that we get to hear some Filipino music, cultural nuance is something that a lot of global films have started to forgo while catering to a global audience on platforms such as Netflix. I know you’re going to tell me that there’s nothing deep here and it’s just a romance, so why should they emphasize the culture, but it’s what makes the film stand out from the crowd and truly worth a watch. This is why I’d give One Hit Wonder 2.5 out of 5 stars. It does seem like a higher score than it deserves based on my analysis, but I liked the direction it was trying to take, especially with a female character who knows what she wants, but I wish the rest of the film was as good. What are some good Filipino musical romances you’d like us to explore? Let us know in the comments down below.
