Everything About Her

Everything About Her was a predictable story about a mother who put her job before her son and when she is diagnosed with cancer desperately wants to see her son again, but pride gets in the way. Her spunky full-time nurse takes matters into her own hands and tries to reconcile the two.

Real estate mogul Vivian Rabaya grew up poor and now is merciless in business. Her ex-husband and son moved to the USA years ago and she hasn’t seen her son, Albert, since he was 17. After being diagnosed with bone cancer, she hires Jaica Domingo as her full-time nurse. At the insistence of Vivian’s right-hand man, Jaica calls Viv’s son, Albert, and tells him his mom has an architectural job for him. When that doesn’t work, she tells him she has cancer. Albert comes for the job but his anger toward his mother runs deep. Jaica believes he’s the best medicine for her boss and works to have them reconcile. Her mission is complicated by her attraction to the handsome architect.

I would have liked this film better if director Joyce Bernal had picked a genre and stuck with it. The romance was clumsy with cringey and obvious tropes. The comedy felt forced most of the time. It was better when it came from an organic place. What worked for me, was the enemies to friends relationship between Vivian and Jaica. It’s been done many times before this and better, but it was still entertaining to watch the two women work through their familial issues by leaning on each other. Vivian also realized she didn’t have much time to fulfill her bucket list spurring her to accentuate her altruistic endeavors. The son’s emotions were all over the place making Albert difficult to feel compassion for.

Everything About Her was at its best when the film focused on Vivian coming to grips with her new situation and Jaica helping her as she faced the medical fallout of treatments. Despite dealing with the side effects of the medications, Vivian was the usual healthy looking and energetic cancer patient often shown in movies. I always wonder if the writers have actually ever been close to someone who has suffered through chemotherapy and end stage cancer. Be that as it may, I would have preferred less comedy schtick and more authentic scenes between the characters as that was where the compelling moments came from for me.

19 September 2025
Triggers: Several vomiting scenes. F*cking cancer.

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I've tried a few Filipino movies in the past that I couldn't really get on board with mostly because I couldn't take them seriously. Even if they're romantic comedies, which genre I often enjoy, there's something in past Filipino movies I've tried that put me off somehow.

This is not a romantic comedy. It's also not a tragedy, nor is it a plain romance.

Story (8/10):
The basic premise of the story is pretty simple. A mother who has neglected her son due to her company gets cancer. She gets a live-in nurse who helps bring the two back together. Overall, there isn't anything super complicated or exciting beyond this plot, but I thought it was written well and the cast did a great job bringing the script to life. I see how parts could have been flat with a less talented cast, but there was also a bit of added emotional lines with the nurses family that I think made this a decently solid story. I'm staying spoiler free so I'm not going to give any more details, but the story is emotional while being uplifting and giving a message of just living life to the fullest with no regrets.

Acting/Cast (9/10):
Simply put, what made this movie for me was the cast, mainly the mother Vivian Rabaya and the nurse Jaica Domingo. These two were great on their own and when put together it was perfect. One of my favorite scenes was the two of them talking together outside in the evening and getting very emotional. The scene was very well acted especially from Angel Locsin (Jaica). The same holds true for almost every other scene the two are in.

Then there's Xian Lim, who plays the son Albert Mitra. I was a little less than enthused with his acting and I felt that the more the movie went on the more I was unbelieving in what he was trying to portray. He wasn't terrible by any means; he had a few emotional scenes that were not too bad. However, every now and again he'd be saying a simple line and it would sound really forced. All that said, he's not bad looking and had pretty good chemistry with Angel. I mostly forgave him with the scenes of them at the end. :)

The rest of the cast is less of a highlight in the movie due to the nature of the storyline, but there were also some good performances from side characters and no one who I could pick out as a bad actor.

Music (6.5/10):
Part of the job an OST is supposed to due is blend seamlessly with the visuals and I can say that this didn't stand out in any negative way. However, a truly good OST will stand out in the opposite way and be noticed not just for highlighting the movie, but being good as a standalone (at least, IMHO). This score is fine in portraying the emotions of the movie, but also nothing noteworthy.

Rewatch Value (7/10):
I can actually see myself rewatching this at some point. If I did, it would probably be to see Jaica and Vivian again. I'm going to have to try to find more Filipino dramas in this vein since it's one of the only ones I've genuinely enjoyed so far...

Overall (7.625/10):
I think as an emotional, uplifting, thought provoking movie, I've definitely seen better. But it's also really enjoyable and the cast was (mostly) a pleasure to watch. There's also a sprinkle of romance (drama free) for all the romantics out there that adds that extra bit of flavor to an already enjoyable film. However, if you're watching this for the romance, that's not what this movie is about. I'd still recommend it anyway...

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