Cover Tatler review: ‘The Loved One’ starring Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales (Photo: edited by Angela Nicole Guiral)
Tatler review: ‘The Loved One’ starring Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales (Photo: edited by Angela Nicole Guiral)
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Starring Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales, Irene Emma Villamor’s ‘The Loved One’ turns a simple reunion into a question of who we become inside love. Warning: spoilers ahead
The Loved One opens with a familiar situation: two people finally meeting again after a rough breakup, and after spending a decade together. From this premise, the film expands into something more demanding and complex. It asks the viewers to consider how timing and emotional labour shape a relationship.
Written and directed by Irene Emma Villamor, The Loved One follows Ellie and Eric, portrayed by Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales, as recollections surface while Eric waits alone in a restaurant. The story then moves through fragments and pieces. Bit by bit, the story expands. Villamor confirmed during the film’s talkback session that the structure grew from memory itself. “When you think about your memories in real life, it’s not linear,” she said. “Something suddenly pops up.”
That decision shapes how the relationship is understood. Scenes replay through shifting points of view. A smile remembered by Eric carries a different meaning when seen through Ellie’s experience. Curtis later noted that even wardrobe choices were designed to signal perspective and emotional distance. “Everything was intentional,” she said. “Even the drop of colours to neutral choices at the end shows where Ellie was in her life as well.” The change from the electric blue dress she wore in the wedding scene to the eventual black top in the restaurant was a sight to marvel at, heart-wrenchingly so.
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Above Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
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Above Jericho Rosales as Eric in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
Above Anne Curtis as Ellie in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
Jericho Rosales as Eric in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
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Curtis plays Ellie with watchfulness, a woman unsettled by the world around her. Rosales’s Eric almost always searches for answers with intensity. During the talkback, he described the character as someone already withdrawing from himself. “From the very beginning, pinagtatanggol niya na ’yung sarili niya [he was already defending himself],” Rosales said, regarding one of the most memorable lines in the film: “Gaano mo ba ako kamahal [How much do you love me]?” He explained that Eric believes he loves more, and therefore loves better.
Silence has also become a character alongside Ellie and Eric. In a late scene without dialogue, Ellie and Eric face each other across everything they have shared. Asked what was passing between them, Curtis resisted explanation. “I want to throw that question back at you,” she told the audience. “Ano sa tingin mo ang nasa isip naming pareho [what do you think were on our minds]?” The viewer described the moment as an offering of peace rather than resolution—a reading Curtis nodded and smiled at.
See also: Anne Curtis and Joshua Garcia on the emotional work behind ‘It’s Okay to Not Be Okay’
Above Jericho Rosales as Eric in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
Jericho Rosales as Eric in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
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Above Anne Curtis as Ellie in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
Anne Curtis as Ellie in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
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The question of sides surfaced repeatedly during the discussion. Curtis acknowledged that viewers would leave aligned with one character or the other. “You’re gonna walk out of this room, and you’re gonna pick a side talaga,” she said. Villamor agreed, suggesting the film works when it pushes audiences to reflect on their own position. “Depende sa nasaan sila sa buhay nila [It will depend where they are in life right now],” she said.
Rosales offered a gentler framing. “If you’re choosing between lover and loved one,” he said, “it’s just a matter of time kung nasaan ka sa space [of where you are emotionally].”
The film traces a realistic decade-long relationship marked by love and misunderstandings. Over those ten years, we saw how Ellie and Eric hurt each other while trying to repair their relationship, all while trying not to lose their sense of selves. We watched the two fall in and out of love, yet their bond endures, tested by time and circumstance, further softened by Ellie’s heartbreaking line in the end: “Let’s not be mean to each other.” After the emotional rollercoaster that is their story, the film’s ending was a hard-won peace: a deeper understanding of each other, and of themselves, that feels fully earned.
Above Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales in ‘The Loved One’ (Photo: Viva Films and Cornerstone Studios)
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Released in Philippine cinemas on February 11, 2026, The Loved One has found commercial success alongside strong word-of-mouth, earning PHP 110 million at the box office in its first nine days, according to figures published by Viva Films—a notable achievement, especially given the deliberate decision to lower ticket prices. Yet the film’s enduring impact lies in its realistic depiction of love, shown as something shaped by communication, compromise and understanding.
Still, a question remains open: to whom do you sympathise more—Ellie or Eric? Are you the lover or the loved one?
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Angela Nicole Regis Guiral is the assistant digital editor of Tatler Philippines. She studied journalism and has since written features that look closely at how culture, lifestyle and social impact converge, while occasionally wandering into the worlds of style and travel.
