Halik sa Hangin. Kiss the wind. Try doing that. Turn on your electric fan. Let it rotate its head 180° side-to-side. Face the oscillating blades and feel the cool wind blow against and pass by. Now, close your eyes. Move your lips. Do the thing.

It isn’t fun. What makes it enjoying is the could-haves and should-haves if the wind had chemistry with you. If you imagined the humming motor as a foreign whisper to your soul, or the electric fan as a longing for the warmth (or coolness) to keep you going in this sordid time, then I guess you have felt entertained with this experiment.

Halik sa Hangin captures its sceneries decently, whether it be indoors or outdoors. But it isn’t for this reason why most would sit inside a cinema and stay for two hours. For some, it is the discovery of a story, of characters that may very bereal but haven’t met yet. This film isn’t a biopic, though. For some it might be for a captivating story, or of surprises of riddles with obfuscated clues that all wrap up neatly and satisfyingly in the end. But for most, it is to feel something with just the right amount of intellectual work-out, without overthinking to falsely render the experience perfect.

Branding itself as a romance mystery, we see Mia Generoso (Julia Montes) reel in her grief, of being fractured from family, the basic unit of belonging. She grew up with her beloved father but his untimely demise meant she had to immerse and act normally with a new family, her biological mother, stepfather and a toddler of a half-brother. The family drama would have been enough for the film to explore as there were visual cues, albeit repeated without any additional emotion or dimension revealed. Alas, we have to deal with what the poster, teasers and title offered, a romance.

There are two options, Alvin (JC de Vera), the friend who is always there, or Gio (Gerald Anderson), a mysterious phantom of sorts who Mia sets out for early on. When Gio sets in, her longing and despondent self are washed away magically. It was presented through a believable and enjoyable end with the beautiful scenery and color-grading but these all were also washed away by the lack of chemistry, unlovable script and a jarring score the studio usually employs in its movies. For the first factor, this film would actually be a great example on why chemistry tests are done in casting. Sometimes, during that long first hour of making yourself believe their love flourish, photo stills with captions in a photobook or Instagram, if the mysterious guy permitted it, would have been a better alternative.

On the second hour, the film blows the elementary school mystery to your face, with all the supporting cast members turn their heads back to you. The promised themes of paganism and organized religion, psychological vs supernatural are seen again but they are, again, just seen. No elaboration nor exploration, these wallflowers retain their form. As with the different facets of love Halik sa Hangindisplays, the mystery is revealed and solved through never-ending dialogue without conviction. When things start to heat up and some visual excellence outside the house and environment set-up Baguio City has already freely offered, were left out to computer-generated graphics, cliche scare tactics and the absence of personal investment by the viewer to root for something or someone.

The depression one sinks to from a loss of a love one is no pit one would ever want to fall in. This could have been expounded to such great heights, with romance as a support or guide, and not an anchor that weighed the whole production down. The number of supporting characters would have made such compelling dialogue, and worthwhile interactions but they are too many for the boat to handle. Queenie (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) delivered the best performance for her 5-minute role and she could have been elevated to a main role but the attention of the studio is to sell this film through romance. Another promise has been poofed in an instant. Even with good framing at least 50% of the time and smooth color-grading, they just tread on the rich historic and cultural display and don’t bother. A lot of things could happen but don’t. For this kind of films, sometimes, it would be best to not really expect anymore. Ignorance is bliss. We appreciate things through their absence but with Halik sa Hangin, everything is present but virtually absent; in contrast to the air we breathe which is visually absent but we feel as omnipresent.

*There is some improvement in mainstream Filipino studio films, but we still have to push each other further to excellence by going back to the core of the human element, whether it by story or through acting. As with the challenge to kiss the wind, I really hope no one fell for that joke of a promise I never promised in the first place.