Sakaling Hindi Makarating: Movie Review

Hand-painted, mail-delivered postcards. This is where our protagonist Cielo gets her drive to self-discovery when she starts receiving romantic messages from an anonymous sender. With our instantaneous and connected world, the medium used by the characters in the film is literally unconventional. "Sakaling Hindi Makarating" latches on to being unconventional most of the way and it's what makes it such an enthralling film to experience.

Cielo (Alessandra de Rossi) is a 27 year old workaholic whose world is literally unfolding. Her fiance and partner for 11 years suddenly broke off their engagement. One day, an anonymous sender starts sending Cielo hand-painted postcards from different places around the Philippines. Curious who this sender might be, she decides to go on a journey across the country to try to track and catch up with the mysterious sender only known as "M".

There are a lot of things to take in when watching "Sakaling Hindi Makarating". What happens isn't really a love story in a conventional sense. It's not about finding one's soul mate but loving oneself and loving the journey to get to it - however mundane or nonsensical it may be. The movie was successful in conveying this with strong acting performances from the cast. Alessandra de Rossi performed well as the lead as she was able to convey the difficult emotions that was required from her very complex character of Cielo. But much praise should also be given to Teri Malvar and Pepe Herrera. Another thing to rave about "Sakaling Hindi Makarating" is its cinematography. While it is easy to conclude this as it features various locations around the country, it's not that simple. Director Idanan had incredible vision to make these scenes pop out. She was able to convey the natural beauty of our country in such a vivid and colorful manner rarely seen unless you see these places with your own two eyes. The film's narrative also plays a central role in keeping you interested throughout its length. You will be sucked in trying to figure out who "M" is and why the heck is this person sending these postcards in the first place. While the ending might be too open-ended for some, we actually loved it. The lesson here is that what matters most in life is not the destination but mostly the journey. How you digest and cherish that journey is clearly up to you.

Rating: 5 reels





Why you should watch it:
- Strong performances from the cast delivers an emotional experience
- Outstanding cinematography and visuals that also features the best in our country

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- The open-ended conclusion might not please some