‘The Entitled’ is a Filipino romantic comedy-drama that centres on Belinda, who struggles to adapt to a new, opulent lifestyle after learning that her estranged father is a successful businessman. The film is streaming on Netflix.
Story
Belinda (Alex Gonzaga), a poor young woman from Nalapok discovers about her affluent hotelier father, Enrico (Johnny Revilla). To get her back to him, her father appoints the attorney, Jacob (JC De Vera).
Enrico has a wife, Matilda (Ara Mina) and a daughter. Belinda tries to fit in with their prosperous family.
Belinda simply cannot seem to tick the boxes of class and elegance, whether it is about correct dining manners or what to say. She has a makeover that involves getting rid of her imperfections, styling her hair, and adorning nice clothing.
Belinda’s father requests that she complete the vice president training at his company. Jacob, who trains her, finds her annoying but ultimately grows to like her.
Nanny Mo (Melai Cantiveros), the housekeeper who subsequently becomes her assistant, helps her out. Belinda’s cruel stepmother causes things to go rough for her very soon.
Performances
The main character, Belinda, is portrayed by Alex Gonzaga, who performs a good job. Apart from the moments her character seemingly does strange things on screen, her performance helps improve the movie a little bit.
Enrico, Belinda’s father, is superbly portrayed by Johnny Revilla. He and his daughter form a good relationship.
The actors that play Matilda and Jacob, JC De Vera and Ara Mina, respectively, exhibit mediocre acting yet are a good fit for their roles. JC De Vera does a good job of capturing some of the subtle feelings his character has towards the lead character.
Melai Cantiveros, who plays Nanny Mo, had the chance to excel in the role, but she falls short due to her little screen time and odd facial expressions especially when she sees Jacob.
Positives
Perhaps, the potential for realism—from Belinda’s strained connection with her father to the challenging conditions in her little hometown—is what makes you want to see the movie through to the end.
However, in the second half of the film, aspects like the humour and romance that struggle to survive at the beginning are toned down and more genuine. Even the editing of ‘The Entitled’ seems fairly good.
Negatives
The narrative as a whole is really bad and confusing, presenting Belinda to the board with no genuine effort or work. It is strange how the script starts because there is no explanation. The movie tries so hard that the majority of the scenes are overly dramatic and tone deaf.
The characters appear to have been poorly written and are all over the place. Most of the characters have little background and constantly surround Belinda now and then. The movie’s characters are underdeveloped and seem to be dragged through the storyline.
‘The Entitled’ is directed by Theodore Boborol and his direction falls flat due to the occasional ugly and forced sense of humour. The performance of the actors is less extravagant, and neither the execution nor the production value of the film is very strong.
The film moves quickly and has an excessive number of dialogues that do not make sense. It moves at an erratic pace with forced comedy, languid romance, and empty plots. ‘The Entitled’ makes a sincere effort to stand apart but fails.
Verdict
‘The Entitled’ is a one-time watch film as it lacks practically most of the good components of a movie, yet it has a little chance of being relevant or giving you a chuckle out of a lot of awkward moments.
Rating 2/5
Also Read: The Entitled ending explained: Do Belinda and Jacob end up together?