Bianca de Vera, Will Ashley, Dustin Yu redefine romance in ‘Love You So Bad’
Apart from the love triangle of Bianca de Vera, Will Ashley, and Dustin Yu, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2025 entry “Love You So Bad” will portray romance that goes beyond the fluff and butterflies.
“This is not just a film with fluff and kilig. This has depth in terms of what the youth are going through, family dynamics, and kailangan ipa-intindi sa kanila ‘yun (they have to understand that). It’s honing the craft, the love for acting, and the skills involved,” director Mae Cruz Alviar said of the romantic comedy in a recent media launch.
“Love You So Bad” tells the story of Savannah (de Vera) who finds herself torn between Vic or “Mr. Sungit” (Ashley) and LA (Yu), the latter of which she refers to as her savior. She is the daughter of a woman who has “bad taste in men,” which leads her to take upon herself to define what love truly is.
While the film revolves around de Vera’s chemistry with Ashley and Yu, Alviar reiterated that telling Savannah, Vic, and LA’s story was her utmost priority and maintaining the balance between both pairs is what mattered to her the most.
“It’s not so much ‘yung thinking of their following, but it’s going to be fair. There’s going to be equal exposure and it’s balanced,” she said. “But more importantly, ang sinundan namin ‘yung kwento. The story is the most important but we’re always checking. We try our best to balance it and make the supporters happy without compromising the story.”
Defining love
The film’s story is very straightforward as it talks about Savannah falling in love with two men who offer what she longed for. Despite this, Yu and Ashley agree that love is a commitment.
“Love is everywhere: at work, sa tao. Kaya kapag naramdaman mo ang love, kailangan mong maging committed kasi marami kayong pagdadaanan na struggles, ups and downs. Matetest kayo but then, kailangan mong pag-isipan bago ka magmahal kasi may masasaktan ka kung hindi mo mabibigay ang hundred percent mo,” Yu said.
(Love is everywhere: it happens at work and with people. This is why when you fall in love, you need to commit. A couple will go through struggles, ups, and downs. You will be tested. But then, it’s up to you to decide whether you’ll continue loving because you will end up hurting someone if you don’t give your hundred percent.)
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Ashley added that love shouldn’t come with a price.
“Maraming ibig sabihin ang love [pero it’s about] pag-commit talaga (Love means a lot of things but it’s about commitment). You give your 100% without expecting anything in return,” he said.
For de Vera’s part, she has always enjoyed the idea of love. And while the actress doesn’t know how to solely define what it truly means at the moment, she believes that it is an unconditional thing.
“I love love. I love talking about love. Gusto ko ‘yung minamahal ako at nagmamahal din ako. Iba’t ibang klaseng love ang na-experience natin at nabibigay sa ibang tao na nakakasalamuha natin but I think the common denominator for me is that it’s unconditional. It comes with no conditions. The thing is, I can’t pinpoint what love [truly] is, pero I know na mahal kita,” she said.
(I love love. I love talking about love. I want to be loved and I want to love someone. We experience different kinds of love and we show it differently, but I think the common denominator for me is that it’s unconditional. It comes with no conditions. The thing is, I can’t pinpoint what love truly is, but I know that I love you.)
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During the launch, Alviar said de Vera, Ashley, and Yu represent the “new generation of stars, love teams, leading men, and leading ladies.” Doing the film has been overwhelming for her — noting her success in past MMFF entries — but she’s proud to be part of a project that would launch them to the masses.
“You’re looking at the new generation of stars. Nakakapanibago kasi iba ang lagi kong nakaka-trabaho (I had to adjust at first because I’m used to working with different people) and suddenly, these are new faces with new dynamics,” she said.
“But what hit me is this is the new generation of stars and loveteams, and the new leading men and leading ladies. I’m excited and honored to be part of a project that launched them. This is not just a love triangle film. This is a film about the youth and these three represent them,” she continued.
“Love You So Bad” also stars Xyriel Manabat, Ralph De Leon, Vince Maristela, and Reign Parani.
