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.
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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