Where do popular 1990s love teams go? To Malta, it turns out — at least in the case of Ex Ex Lovers, the romantic comedy that reunites onscreen couple Marvin Agustin and Jolina Magdangal.
On the surface, it is easy to dismiss JP Habac and Antoinette Jadaone’s big screen comeback as director and screenwriter, respectively (with Kristine Gabriel co-writing), as a product of nostalgia, which it is. But the film uses that nostalgia to say something interesting about romance in the present day. Whether or not it works is a different issue altogether.
Ex Ex Lovers tells the story of Joy (Magdangal), a single mother whose young daughter SC (Loisa Andalio) has been proposed to by her boyfriend, Joey (Juan Karlos Labajo). Joy isn’t too fond of Joey, and we soon find out why. Joy cannot help but compare SC’s engagement with her own relationship with estranged husband, Cedric (Agustin).
Despite her misgivings, Joy flies to Malta to track Cedric so he can walk SC down the aisle on her wedding day per her request. Hence, rom-com shenanigans ensue.
Those with the slightest knowledge of ‘90s Pinoy pop culture may enjoy — or may be turned off by, depending on your preference — what Ex Ex Lovers appears to be doing at first. The humor of the film’s first act is broad and unsubtle, one that wouldn’t be out of place in a late ‘90s Pinoy romantic comedy or a 2010s Vice Ganda film. One may even recognize how the film’s plot is reminiscent of the Marvin-Jolina film Kung Ayaw Mo, Huwag Mo!, where the then-young tandem connives to reconnect estranged lovers played by former onscreen love team Maricel Soriano and William Martinez. It’s hard to say if this is intentional.
Ex Ex Lovers is also littered with old Marvin-Jolina references. Jolina’s iconic dialogue from an earlier film — “Kaibigan mo ko! Kaibigan mo lang ako. And that’s all I ever was to you” — gets an unsurprising callback.
The film is fond of the love team’s hit 1998 romantic comedy Labs Kita… Okey Ka Lang? about two best friends falling in love and ending up with each other. It would be easy to assume that Ex Ex Lovers is that film’s unofficial sequel.
The film keeps its charade up until its second act, as Joy convinces Ced to help him break up SC and Joey (while Ced tries to reignite his relationship with Joy). Ex Ex Lovers mines Marvin and Jolina’s chemistry and onscreen dynamics that made them popular. Marvin’s Ced is the playful, kengkoy everyman, the perfect foil to the serious but kikay Joy of Jolina. This playful aso’t pusa chemistry that differentiated Marvin and Jolina from their 1990s love team contemporaries is something fans from almost three decades ago may find entertaining.
Ex Ex Lovers works to some extent because of its unexpected twist. To hell with romance, the film seems to say; what we need in 2025 are proper venues and legal support so we can properly love and choose ourselves. This is powerful stuff, especially as annulment remains exclusive to those who can afford expensive legal fees, and divorce is still a contentious issue in the Philippines.
Habac’s rom-com is far from perfect. Your enjoyment may depend on how well you respond to the film’s (intentional) nostalgia bait during its first act. And while the film nails its ending, it isn’t exactly new; Habac essentially already told this story with his far superior I’m Drunk, I Love You. The conceit also may have worked better if the film employed a love team with much bigger pop culture cache. A film anchored by nostalgia that cannot be bothered to be original outside of its callbacks isn’t an easy watch.
Ex Ex Lovers is also littered with old Marvin-Jolina references. Jolina’s iconic dialogue from an earlier film — “Kaibigan mo ko! Kaibigan mo lang ako. And that’s all I ever was to you” — gets an unsurprising callback.
But it cannot be denied that there is also something appealing about a film sold to the audience as a romance — headlined by one of the biggest Philippine love teams of the ‘90s — that does not force the lead couple to end up together. This is made even more potent when you consider how it works as a Labs Kita… Okey Ka Lang? sequel and what that says about contemporary romance and the previously active Filipino rom-com industrial complex.
On the one hand, is it too much to demand a straight-up romance from our romantic films? Why can’t we have actual romance in our romance, Philippine cinema? On the other hand, maybe we should look outward and fix what ails us externally first before we consider falling in love — at least on the silver screen?
Ex Ex Lovers may not be the best representative of what the Filipino rom-com should be today, but it paves the way for where it can go next.
