I was a little weirded out by My Amanda—mainly because this is exactly how I act around my guy friends. I think I can speak for everyone who has a really close friendship with someone of the opposite sex. In fact, some of my guy friends actually messaged me after watching this saying how I’m as weird and playful as Amanda.
For those of you who are still skeptical about friendships like this, I’m telling you, it exists. I know it because I’ve also been friends with a guy for a decade or so without any romantic or sexual involvement. This guy has always been there for me both ups and downs. We do a lot of couple things together like cooking and fighting and making bucket lists.
True, there are times when I’d think what if it would be more—I think that’s given, considering the number of romantic comedies where the prince charming has “been there all along”. I’m at peace whenever I’m with him and he’s possibly the only constant guy in my life but I also know that love goes beyond romantic. It’s more like being platonically in love. Perhaps a romantic friendship.
Anyway, point is that I’m glad I’m not the only one with this dynamic (lmao) but seriously, a pure boy-girl friendship exists. They don’t always have to fall in love with each other to make it a happy ending. It’s being friends and knowing you can count on each other no matter what. It’s 2021 and I think it’s about time to stop romanticizing these friendships.
The Plot
My Amanda revolves around the decade-long friendship of Amanda (Alessandra de Rosi) and TJ (Piolo Pascual), who also go by the names “Fuffy” and “Fream”. They are “unusually” too close to be platonic, but they’re not close to being lovers either.
My Honest Opinion
Piolo and Alessandra don’t have that much romantic chemistry for me, which makes their casting perfect. They perfectly portray a playful platonic relationship. No sexual tension. Genuine. I love how everything was kept simple and mundane.
Contrary to the movie description, I don’t think their closeness is unusual at all. There are friendships that just click, where you feel perfectly comfortable being inches away from each other without the urge to take your clothes off.
Some details were a little out of the box, though, like the ending and a void marriage with a politician. I guess the real-life cliche here is that there’s always that a-hole that your guy best friend secretly hates and goes along with it as long as you’re happy.
Watching it, I personally don’t think TJ was in love with Amanda. Again, this may look like the usual is-my-best-friend-in-love-with-me slash am-I-in-love-with-my-best-friend question where everyone else but the two of you can see it, but you won’t understand until you’re actually there or at least know someone who has a bond like them.
The plot twist was really bittersweet and unpredictable-ish (spoiler alert) but if you’ve read my past reviews, you’d know that this is my kind of movie.
In case you haven’t seen My Amanda, watch the trailer here:
I cried after watching it not because I’m in love with a guy friend or anything, but because it’ll make you realize how much you value them. There are different types of guy friends in the world and if you have one that genuinely asks for nothing but your company—these are the types of friends that you hold onto for the rest of your lives.
Favorite line from My Amanda:
“Sadyang ganito ang buhay. Sa mga gabing walang katiyakan, hahanapin mo siya. May mga araw na walang kahulugan, mararamdamam mo ang sakit ng pagkawala niya. Maging totoo ka sa iyong kalungkutan, at bigyan mo ito ng mabuting kahulugan.”
Watch My Amanda on Netflix now.
Other films to watch: