Relationship Status

The "support the local movie" bit started early this year when I drove in the pouring rain and braved the horrendous parking system at Pyramid, to pay RM12 (with a RM2 voucher from Panasonic - fat load of good being a member did me, and after the warranty on the camera petered out) to watch Khairil M. Bahar's Relationship Status.

The basic premise...

Based on the numerous options available on social networking sites, Relationship Status tells the story of a number of KL-ites from all walks of life whose relationships are created, changed and sometimes even ruined by the way we communicate in the 21st century.

 With a poster like this..

One would think monster ensemble movies like Love Actually, Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, etc (the only one that I actually saw was Love Actually, but I digress); while The Social Network is about the early days of Facebook (and how well Jesse Eisenberg potrays Mark Z as a douchebag), Relationship Status is about the impact Facebook has on the relationships in the movie.

If you're familiar with the local entertainment scene, then the faces would be very familiar to you. Even if you're not, it's okay - you can still watch this. It stars Gavin Yap, Davina Goh, Tony Eusoff, Daphne Iking, Baki Zainal, Ruzana Ibrahim, Amanda Ang, Benji Lim, Adeline Ong, Susan Lankester.

You have most of those relationship status options on Facebook (you know the ones) covered in this movie: Single (check), In a Relationship (check), Engaged (check), Married (check), Widowed, Seperated, Divorced, and of course, "It's Complicated" (double, triple check). 

• Casting was pretty spot on - I could definitely believe that Will Quah is Susan Lankester's on-screen son, and Baki Zainal as the very Malay married Melayu man.
• Director Khairil M. Bahar is also a character in the movie as Gavin Yap's newly-single housemate.
• Recognised some of the locations in the movie like Hartamas, Bandar Utama, and Taman Tun...
• Daphne Iking plays a woman who got a divorce when she found out her (ex) husband (Tony Eusoff) was cheating on her with Davina Goh's character through Facebook. Erm, reliving her own (distant) past much? (The part about divorcing from the cheating husband, that is; not the Facebook part in it)
• I know it's an indie flick, but stuffing a ball under a woman's shirt ≠ pregnant. 
• There's some Hokkien in this movie, but don't worry - there's the very spot on subtitles to help you along.
• There are some goofs in this movie - but I'll leave it to you to spot them for yourselves.

Not every storyline in the movie was nicely wrapped up with a nice big bow on top, but you can pretty much guess what happens.

Conclusion: Like it very much. It's ahead of the curve. Go watch. Seriously.

As this movie is in selected TGV Cinemas (in the Klang Valley - only at KLCC and Sunway Pyramid) for a limited run, I would suggest catching this as soon as possible.