Hello, Love, Goodbye (2019)

Hello, Love, Goodbye (2019)

A blockbuster portrait of love overseas

7.0

Movie

Hong Kong, Philippines
Cantonese, English, Tagalog
Drama, Romance
2019
CATHY GARCIA-MOLINA, CATHY GARCIA-SAMPANA
Alden Richards, Jameson Blake, Jeffrey Tam
118 min

What it's about

A bartender and a domestic helper of Filipino origin living in Hong Kong find themselves falling in love, but they each have different plans for their future.

The take

Joy is a dutiful, overseas Filipino worker supporting her entire family back home. Ethan is a well-off bartender who has, time and again, put himself first before others. They couldn’t be any more different, yet in Hong Kong, their alien status and ambitious goals make them kindred spirits. What starts as a low-stakes bond quickly turns into an essential relationship, one that puts their personal commitments to the test. 

Hello, Love, Goodbye may appear formulaic at first, but it is heightened by a keen understanding of life overseas. It avoids romanticizing the migrant experience and sees it for what it truly is: a harsh but necessary means to an end. If this seems too severe, it’s also softened by an enchanting romance and some welcome comic relief in the form of the pair’s friends. Because of this nice mix, it’s no surprise that Hello, Love, Goodbye instantly broke domestic records and remains the highest-grossing Filipino movie of all time. 

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