‘A Glimpse of Forever’ Review: Everything is not what it seems

A GLIMPSE OF FOREVER (2024) Review
Directed by Jason Paul Laxamana

It’s hard to box Jason Paul Laxamana’s latest film ‘A Glimpse of Forever’ as just a sci-fi romance, on the surface you get a guy with social anxiety disorder who functions better behind a mask. But beneath its main character’s challenges are layers of trauma.

It’s not the first time Laxamana tackled issues about mental health in his films. But A Glimpse of Forever’s charm is its genuine way of not tackling the mental health issues loudly. While the film tells that the company Forevr sells fantasy, it’s actually like a therapy. Guests can have their “me time” with someone virtually who does whatever they want.

Jerome Ponce does a very convincing Dante. At least half of the film we see his face covered with mask but acting through his eyes were enough. Jasmine Curtis-Smith can go from calm to angry in just a snap, perfectly portrays what her character requires from her. And Diego Loyzaga definitely passes the boy-next-door look and personality.

The film’s fusion of sci-fi and romance can be both taken lightly and heavily because in the surface, we see Dante being a regular guy just doing his work but the sci-fi element is also an escape for its two main characters – Dante getting to be the person he wants to be and Glenda getting to have the attention and conversation she thirsts for from her real-life boyfriend.

It kind of feels though at times that the production was rushed. And some of the choices weren’t really the original choices or at least what was written originally in the script that it felt smaller than it should be visually and emotionally.

A Glimpse of Forever tells us that everything is not what it seems. People may look okay, they may smile, laugh and do normal things people do but deep inside they are troubled, they are aching, they are crying for help. It has a lot of improvements especially in the production department and maybe improve its concept to make it look and feel fully-realized but the promise of the story is enough to make the audience think more than just the surface of the film.

3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

‘A Glimpse of Forever’ opens in cinemas March 6, 2024 from VIVA Films and Ninuno Media. Rated PG by the MTRCB.