Meet Me in St. Gallen: Movie Review

If you're familiar with "Before Sunrise" (or the "Before" trilogy), "Meet Me in St. Gallen" borrows heavily from its style. What we get is as expected - a more intimate and more authentic and real drama story which focuses heavily on its characters and its characters alone.

Jesse (Carlo Aquino) and Celeste (Bela Padilla) both had very bad days. Each needing dire company, the two fatefully meet at a coffee shop and have an unforgettable and remarkable one-night date. But when Jesse ends the night with a stolen kiss, the two part ways but never got the chance to meet again. After several years, the two accidentally meet rekindling a romance they thought they would never get a chance to experience again.

With the focus of "Meet Me in St. Gallen" on conversations, one of the crucial factors for its success were its leads. Bela Padilla and Carlo Aquino had great performances and more importantly, chemistry. It also helped that there characters were fleshed out well each their own unique problems and quirks that when combined made them an unforgettable combination. The script was also crucial. To make things interesting throughout its run time, the script tackled numerous topics from nonsense to deep philosophical arguments. While it was a necessity, the script had that disjointed and fake vibe against the typecast of its two leads. Instead of feeling grounded to reality, at times the script felt like it was pushing itself too hard to be romantic. The film's narrative was separated into three parts (the first one night date, after four years, after two years), each showing our lead's developments and changes throughout a six year span. We liked it actually as it helped us understand and be invested in Jesse and Celeste. Unfortunately, the ending could have been done better. The film ended abruptly without a straight-forward and clear-cut resolution.

Rating: 4 reels





Why you should watch it:
- the performances of Carlo Aquino and Bela Padilla felt real and authentic

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the ending was unconventional and authentic but might disappoint with its abruptness
"Meet Me in St. Gallen" is available to stream via Netflix and iFlix.