Keys to the Heart is a Filipino comedy-drama film released on Netflix on October 4, 2023. It is actually a remake of the 2018 South Korean film starring Lee Byung-hun, Youn Yuh-jung and Park Jeong-min. The film is directed by Kerwin Go and created by Reality MM Studios, Viva Films and Creative Leaders Group Eight Production.
The ensemble cast of the film includes Zanjoe Marudo as Joma, Elijah Canlas as JayJay, Dolly De Leon as Sylvia, Michelle Dee as Annette, Tirso Cruz III as Roldan, Carlo Tarobal as Ver, Katya Santos as Eva, Althea Pinzon as Apple, Lao Rodriguez as Norman, Mark Striegl as Elimar, Bart Guingona as Cesar and others.
Keys to the Heart Review
The story follows Jayjay, a person on the autism spectrum and his mother Sylvia, living a comparatively harmonious life. Until one day Sylvia gets diagnosed with a terminal illness and starts worrying about Jayjay and his future. Despite trying to connect with her relatives, nobody agrees to help her while she gets her treatment. That’s when she gets introduced to social media by a neighbour and decides to find her long-lost son.
Jamo had been estranged from his family since a young age and grew up dreaming of becoming a boxer. However, his increasing age is knocking him down and when he hits his sparring partner in anger, his boxing dreams are crushed as well. Thrown out of his training gym and nowhere to go, he stumbles upon his mother after almost 25 years of being out of touch. Despite never wanting to go back to her or forgive her for abandoning him, he is forced to move in after getting injured in a road accident.
Being part of an unusual family again, Jamo learns to let go of his traumatic childhood memories and finds happiness in little things, with his newly found brother Jayjay. But what would happen when he realises that his mother might be hiding a tragic secret that would drift them apart once again? And what really happened in the past that broke up his family and filled him with hatred towards his parents.
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Although the plot is quite predictable after a certain point, this film fails to make an emotional connection with the audience. They have so many elements to showcase and delve into the vulnerabilities of each character, which would have helped in feeling empathetic with them. But the performance doesn’t live up to that. The biggest connection that should have been explored between Jamo and Jayjay is completely missing. Jamo seems to be messing around with him for most of the part and you never get that brotherly relation between them, except in one scene towards the end.
There was hardly any perspective of things from Jayjay’s point of view and he was always in the background and motivation for the other characters. Even the South Korean film wasn’t particularly praised for the plot but for the performance that moved everyone. Apart from that, there are a few comedic scenes that keep up the lightheartedness and make it a fairly decent movie to watch, when you have absolutely nothing on your watchlist.
Rating: 3/5
Keys to the Heart is available for streaming on Netflix.
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