Four Sisters Before the Wedding (2020)
Haven’t seen the 2013 Filipino movie Four Sisters and a Wedding? That’s ok. You can start with its 2020 prequel, Four Sisters Before the Wedding. Its dramatic scenes overcome cultural boundaries. The comedy… sometimes does as well. It’s nice, breezy fun.
Sisters Alexandra “Alex” Salazar (Gillian Vicencio), Theodora “Teddie” (Charlie Dizon), Roberta “Bobbie” (Alexa Ilacad), and Gabriella “Gabbie” are ordinary teenagers with ordinary troubles. While working hard to earn the grades their parents expect and crushing on boys they’re not allowed to date until they’ve graduated from school they begin suspecting their father (Dominic Ochoa) is having an affair.
In a foreign movie, I want a taste of something different. I don’t want to see another country merely emulating what Hollywood does; I want to see customs and culture weave a new story or make an old story feel new. You get a fair amount of this in Four Sisters Before the Wedding. The sisters are ordinary sisters in every way. They tease each other about which boy they think about, argue about who is borrowing who’s shoes, worry about who their parents like best, etc. There are also some parts of this story that are definitely Filipino. The family’s financial situation, for example. Bobbie is being offered a prestigious scholarship in New York. Can her parents afford to pay for her lodgings in America? The girls can’t even reliably count on their phones having minutes left. The parents could ask Grandma but this stress is probably the reason why dad strayed - assuming he did. If you have family members who’ve had to work abroad and send money back home, you’ll recognize yourself in these characters. Even if you don’t, the dynamics between the actresses are excellent. You get to know them well as individuals, which makes their little romantic adventures sweet and satisfying.
Less successful - or perhaps palatable to foreign audiences - are the comedic scenes. Comedienne Kakai Bautista plays a private investigator that drove me up the wall. Her schemes to get the truth revealed are just too dumb, even in this kind of movie. There’s also a horrible lesbian stereotype played by Cai Cortez. The P.I. is necessary for the plot and ads some welcome comedic hijinks to balance the drama but a little of her goes a long way and Toti Marie you could’ve eliminated… if she didn’t appear in the “sequel”.
Although Four Sisters Before the Wedding” (a title whose meaning becomes clear during the last act of the film, a surprisingly mature and heartfelt conclusion) is kind of Little Women -lite. It also has a bit of a something-something that I could see you latching onto. I’m excited to see what’s next so I imagine anyone who’s seen the “original” will be pleased to get more out of this charming family and the people who surround them. (Original Tagalog with English Subtitles, December 29, 2020)
