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Social media and online games are today's virtual playground. It goes without saying that the convenience of posting photos or videos online is simply undeniable, We've all probably seen someone being targeted by people with malicious comments and being judged at social media exchanges. Arden Rod Condez debut feature film "John Denver Trending" at the 2019 Busan International Film Festival prods the dangers of social media to us and to the modern youth.
Set in the rural area of Pandan in the province of Antique, a teenage boy named John Denver was ostracized and condemned after an uploaded video of him impulsively fighting back a false charge went viral.
The film shows multifaceted and complex issues - inequality, cyber bullying, and platforms of media manipulation. A teenager who is fragile, less resilient and thoughtless by nature becomes so much overwhelmed and distressed by the consequences of his abrupt action. People around him - his friends, teachers, villagers, and the authorities are not sympathetic at all. It's heartbreaking to see how the story unfolds to the viewers yet leaving the main character very vulnerable.
Direk Arden smartly cues viewers to correlate the old belief of "aswang" and the new aswang (being ostracize by people) in revealing that time made no difference at all on this social problem. He cleverly integrates the local culture, customs and tradition with the present era putting emphasis on the beautiful rural scenes of Pandan and its local language Kinaray-a. Director Arden's pride of Antique is too loud to be left unnoticed.
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The rawness of all cast can be somewhat felt all throughout the movie. It gives more life and originality to the film. Newbie actor Jansen Magpusao portrays his role exceptionally winning the best actor award at the Cinemalaya 2019. He made no long dialogues and created an authentic aura of his role. Meryll Soriano is also commendable but with all due respect to her acting, am I the only one who could feel that her presence in the movie is so strong that creates an unbalanced shift to the whole feel of the film?
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There is no smarter way on how to end the movie. As Direk Arden mentioned at the Q&A portion, this movie is a cautionary tale and it could actually happen to anyone (or even worse). Its ending led viewers to reflect deeper on the repercussions of our actions and our responsibility of what we simply thought "expressing our opinion".
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