A Very Good Girl marks acclaimed Filipina actress Kathryn Bernardo’s return to feature films after her role in 2019’s blockbuster Hello, Love, Goodbye. The film sees Bernardo paired in a surprising but welcome occurrence with Dolly de Leon, best known to international audiences for her role in A Triangle of Sadness. Bernardo and De Leon respectively star as a woman named Philo who plots revenge against a retail mogul named Molly, whom Philo blames for a series of unfortunate events in her life.
Revenge is best served when it’s predictable
A Very Good Girl is just one of many revenge-driven stories in Philippine media. Such narratives occur with such regularity on Philippine television that regular viewers can usually predict where the revenge story is headed. A Very Good Girl still plays the usual cat-and-mouse game of Philippine revenge stories. However, its two hour runtime condenses the formula into a much less exhausting and more palatable form.
Given high inequality and frequent social injustice, it’s no surprise that narratives about seeking justice in an unjust world are popular in the Philippines. A Very Good Girl seems quite aware of this fact, acknowledging the David and Goliath battle that normal Filipinos go through in their everyday lives with memorable lines like “justice is expensive”. Philo also breaks the fourth wall at various points in the movie, allowing viewers to step into her shoes and join her on her journey of revenge. The film does well in putting a focus on Philo, as audiences will still feel some sense of investment in her success even if her path follows conventional revenge formulae.
A Very Good Girl deserves additional praise for its dark portrayal of what it’s like to be a woman in a patriarchal society. For example, the film shows Molly’s assistant Charles (Jake Ejercito) taking advantage of his position to assault women. Molly’s status as a power-hungry villain also helps readers ponder whether being aggressive and exploitative are necessary for business success in a country where the richest nine individuals are all men. That’s not to say that the film thinks women should be meek though; its revenge arc also criticizes the assumption that women have to remain apologetic and humble in the face of injustice, and let karma take its course.
A compelling, satisfying mess
Beyond social consciousness though, A Very Good Girl tries to play many other roles—drama, comedy, satire, and so forth. In the end, it’s hard to grasp exactly what the film wants audiences to feel because it’s not consistent. In fact, A Very Good Girl starts off feeling like a cheap B-movie until it reveals that Philo is plotting revenge against Molly.
Ultimately, it’s strong performances from Bernardo and De Leon that pull the film forward from its messy execution. A Very Good Girl is Bernardo’s best character and performance to date; while she’s played many poor women before, the film adds an additional layer of complexity by having her play a poor woman who must pretend she’s wealthy. The doe-eyed Bernardo can pull off a broad range of emotions in this role; she doesn’t just cry on cue, but can also put on a “bad girl” persona that still betrays a hint of good with her eyes. It’s disappointing that it took so long for Bernardo to break out of her love team and romantic drama phase, as A Very Good Girl; Hello, Love, Goodbye; and The Hows of Us all showed what a multidimensional actress she could be.
De Leon’s consistent performance makes the film even more compelling. Molly is one of De Leon’s most fleshed-out characters, as she’s only played side characters before A Triangle of Sadness. Despite how A Very Good Girl tries to make readers question whether Molly or Philo is the real “villain”, nuances in De Leon’s performance help provide clues that contrast Molly from Philo; the film’s best moments are when only those two characters get left alone on screen.
Despite its formulaic foundations, A Very Good Girl is still refreshing at times—especially in a Philippine movie industry that’s so conservative that it’ll often refrain from having characters swear multiple times in mainstream movies. The movie’s eschewing of romance also adds some welcome variety to Philippine cinema; it’s good to see more focus on matters like the layers of motherhood, or how to remain good in an unfair world, instead of more love teams engaging in sappy relationships.
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A Very Good Girl—Philippines. Dialog in Tagalog and English. Directed by Petersen Vargas. First released on September 27, 2023. Running time 1hr 57 mins. Starring Kathryn Bernardo, Dolly de Leon, Chie Filomeno, Jake Ejercito, Donna Cariaga.