The Binging During Quarantine series of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) features local films on digital platforms that the public can watch during the lockdown. We've covered classics and indies on streaming apps like Netflix, iflix, and iWant; an animated shorts playlist on Vimeo; and regional short films posted on the Quarantimes Facebook page. For this review, we feature a full-length film on YouTube for the second time (the first was for "Bar Boys"). "I'm Drunk, I Love You." has received more than 2.1 million views since its upload on April 24, 2020.

I'm Drunk, I Love You. (2017)

Directed by JP Habac

Available for free on the TBA Studios YouTube Channel

TIME CHECK: Are you happy with what you have right now? Are you satisfied with your achievements? Do you have feelings that you want to let out? Are you willing to settle to get the love you've been yearning for? These are just some of the questions that "I'm Drunk, I Love You." (IDILY) throws at you within its almost two-hour run.

It is about two college best friends who go on a sudden road trip to La Union days before their graduation to attend the Daluyon Music Festival in the surfing hotspot. Carson (Maja Salvador) has been in love with Dio (Paulo Avelino) for seven years. Will their friendship finally level up to a romantic relationship in their Elyu getaway?

As the TBA Studios YouTube Channel puts it, the romantic comedy is not a love story. Carson and Dio are not alone in the road trip as they are joined by Jason Ty (Dominic Roco), another best friend of Carson who agrees to accompany her after some prodding.

The film does not just delve on Carson's feelings for Dio. It also tackles the importance of friendships, relationships, and family. Carson and Dio's seven-year friendship is solid, but is it strong enough when feelings get in the way? Jason Ty, meanwhile, never fails to elicit laughter and more importantly, constantly gives Carson reality checks via his "Time Check" catchphrase.

Dominic Roco as Jason Ty and Maja Salvador as Carson

"I'm Drunk, I Love You." is not only a story about love, but of life, particularly self-discovery and maturity. The millennial characters expose their talents, dreams, passions, regrets, doubts, uncertainties, and flaws. As you root for Carson's feelings to be reciprocated by Dio, you will also end up cheering on the characters to take risks and decide wisely—for Jason Ty to find true love in a same-sex relationship, for Dio to determine what to do with his life, and for Carson to graduate from her old, and sometimes bad, habits.

Watching this film again (I've seen it twice in cinemas) during the quarantine period has given me new feels. Firstly, my viewing was interrupted by an advertisement, although it was for 5 seconds only. Secondly, the film allowed me to hear the crashing waves and catch a glimpse of the beach, things that most of us cannot experience (except for those living in coastal communities) as we continue to be under community quarantine.

I especially like the soundtrack of this film, with music by "Heneral Luna" director Jerrold Tarog. It features great OPM tracks by Ang Bandang Shirley, Shirebound and Busking, Juan Miguel Severo, David Yuhico, and The Out of Body Special plus cool covers of Jimmy Bondoc's "Hanggang Dito na Lang" by Avelino and Salvador, Cynthia Alexander's "No Umbrella" by Kai Honasan, Parokya ni Edgar's "Maniwala ka Sana" by Avelino and Salvador, Bondoc's "Huling Gabi" by Salvador, and Sugarfree's "Burnout" by 3D (Johnoy Danao, Ebe Dancel, and Bullet Dumas). Watching the scenes of Dio's gig before graduation, the Daluyon Music Festival numbers, and Carson's heart-wrenching performance in La Union made me miss attending events and watching concerts even more.

Having the film on YouTube has given viewers the space to share their sentiments right away and engage in discussions in the comments section. Going through the over 2,200 comments affirmed my thoughts about the film and presented new insights. There are also witty comments such as this one by Jun jun Moore: "Watching this movie in quarantine. Ang sakit, hindi 'yung story. 'Yung inom sila nang inom. Inggit na inggit ako. Ang sakit!!!!!"

Maja Salvador and Paulo Avelino as college best friends Carson and Dio

Meanwhile, in the awards scene, IDILY bagged eight nominations from the Star Awards for Movies, including Indie Movie of the Year, Indie Movie Director of the Year for Habac, and Movie Actress of the Year for Salvador. It also earned a FAMAS Best Actress nomination for Salvador, who was declared as Best Actress in the 5th Urduja Film Festival in Lingayen, Pangasinan. 

In 2018, IDILY was selected for the Spectrum program of the Shanghai International Film Festival. The year after, it was included in the Special Program: Panorama of Pinoy Cinema of the Cambodia International Film Festival. It has been three years since its theatrical release, but the journey of IDILY is far from over. Habac himself has confirmed that he is working on the sequel titled "I'm Drunk, I Love You Too."