John Tawasil reviews Lem Lorca’s ‘Broken Hearts Trip’, one of the ten entries in this year’s MMFF 2023
Broken Hearts Trip opens with auditions for the titular reality show, where three “judgers” (Tart Carlos, Jacklyn Jose and Christian Bables) try to weed out contestants based on their sad stories. Many contestants are just there for the clout and are quickly dismissed, but the panel quickly zeroes in on four contestants: Ali (Marvin Yap), who loses his business and his lover over a series of unfortunate events; Alex (Andoy Ranay), a businessman who repeatedly goes back to a partner who cheats on him; Bernie (Iyah Mina), a clothing designer who falls in love with a younger man who uses her for her money; and Mark (Petite); who loses custody of his child with his partner (Arnold Reyes) due to their separation.
The introductions to these characters made me empathize with their individual stories, and there’s a lot here to appreciate. For one, the world of Broken Hearts trip is one where same sex partnerships are at least recognized to some extent (in Mark’s case, where there is talk of custody and a lawyer is present) and how, in the absence of partnership, some LGBTQ+ people become breadwinners and caretakers for their families (in Bernie’s story).
The movie, then, has an opportunity to explore the lives of these people through their individual heartbreaks. But here is where the movie disappointingly falls apart: because it is a reality show competition, the whole enterprise feels exploitative (the characters even lampshade that fact in one particular scene and a running gag has Bables repeatedly naming sponsors.) Not everyone gets adequate time (a fifth contestant, Jason (Teejay Marquez) barely gets any scenes, and he lasts pretty far) and while some contestants get at least some measure of closure, others, frustratingly, get nothing. It’s made even worse by the twist reveal of a sixth broken heart, which makes all these stories moot, as if they, sob stories and all, were just used for an ulterior end.
That’s not all: there’s a shocker in the middle of this film where a television production admits to covering up literal crimes happening on the set, though thankfully it backtracks later on, perhaps aware of the problematic nature of that idea. It still comes across as pretty weird, considering the details of what happened.
It’s a shame, because there are so many things in this movie that could’ve made for a good film: part of the credits is a musical sequence that isn’t half bad; why not lean on that? Why not just remove the reality show elements and make it a roadtrip (sponsored by LCL travel and tours) instead? Or maybe even trim down the number of ‘participants’ to the most interesting stories? My heart was broken watching Broken Hearts Trip because it holds the promise of so much more, but falls short of achieving that.
