The Filipino romantic film I Love Lizzy has been directed by RC Delos Reyes. The film includes talented actors like Carlo Aquino and Barbie Imperial. The story revolves around the fluttery romance between Jeffery (Jeff) and Lizzy after they meet each other while Jeff is on vacation in Legazpi. When Jeff falls in love with his tour guide, he pours out his childhood traumas and insecurities. However, under an unfortunate circumstance, the couple is seen to be separated. Will Jeff and Lizzy ever get back together? What will eventually happen to them? Let’s find out!
Spoiler Alert
How Did Jeff And Lizzy Connect?
Jeff has come on a tour to Legazpi, where he meets his tour guide, Lizzy. She was the daughter of the man who owned the motel he was staying in. The two are seen connecting instantly as Jeff joins Lizzy’s party with her friends at night. Her outspoken nature attracts him, and they form a better bond when she takes him out on a tour of the city. Later that night, when Lizzy again invites him to party with her friends, she drinks a lot and passes out. Jeff does not hesitate to carry her on his back, and on their way back home, Lizzy urinates on him. He does not seem to mind, and when Lizzy asks for his forgiveness, his heart melts instantly. However, he asks her to cut down on drinking, as that would protect her health in the long run. Later, when they share each other’s issues and traumas, Jeff takes her to the church and asks the almighty to grant her peace in life. They are seen sharing intimate moments that connect them further, and when Lizzy’s uncle, Abner, finds out about it, he tries to prevent the relationship because he knows that Jeff is about to become a priest. Jeff tells him that he would go back to Manila and give up his career as a priest so that he could return and reunite with Lizzy.
What Childhood Traumas Did Jeff And Lizzy Have?
When Jeff and Lizzy get to know each other better, within a short timeframe, they share their darkest secrets with each other. Jeff tells Lizzy how his father used to torture him and beat him up when he was just a kid. He would make him wash his car and do all the other chores. When his mother found out about it, she took him away from his father and later revealed to him that he was not his real father. After getting to know the truth, Jeff had become a rebel and had resorted to drugs. He was later able to gain control over the situation as he was introduced to the church by one of his aunts.
Lizzy also shares her part of the trauma and tells him that on finding out that her father had another family, she was heartbroken. She had always tried to win her father’s attention by studying hard and even securing a job on a TV channel right after her graduation. He, however, never paid much heed to her. One day, while she was drinking with her father and uncles, she outdrank them all, and that was the only time she had heard her father praising her. Since that day, she has started drinking to impress her father, as she believes that it is the only way she will impress him, turning her into an alcoholic. After venting all their emotional traumas, they made themselves more open and vulnerable to each other.
What Unfortunate Events Separated Them?
Jeff goes back to Manila, and they have a great time doing long-distance for a few days. Later, one day Jeff asks Lizzy to give up drinking, and she goes one final time to drink with her friends at night. Unfortunately, she and her best friend, Kring, meet in an accident. When Lizzy regains her senses after a few days, she asks about the whereabouts of Jeff. Despite searching for him frantically and dropping him several messages, he does not revert back. Lizzy has a terrible time after Jeff ghosts her and is unable to get over the fact that the person she loves the most has deserted her.
After a few years, she is seen enjoying her life again with her new boyfriend. He proposes to her for marriage, and she finds herself on top of the clouds. Her life again comes to a halt when she sees Jeff in their local church. She sees that he has become a priest and asks him why he left her behind. Initially, he is reluctant to tell her the truth, but when she insists on knowing the truth, he reveals it to her. He tells her that he had come back after her accident and had been by her side during her critical times. He had gone to the church and tried seeking answers from God for letting the peril befall Lizzy, and he begged him to make her better. After his visit to the church, he had seen a miraculous improvement in Lizzy. This incident caused him to dedicate his life to religious causes, as he had promised God that he would never turn his back on him if Lizzy survived.
What Happens Finally?
Even though Lizzy would have wanted to go back to Jeff, he had left her no option open as he had become a priest. The sacrifice that Jeff had made to save Lizzy’s life was the major factor that kept them from being together. Later, when Lizzy marries her current boyfriend, Jeff is seen conducting the marriage. The pain that he feels in his heart is inexplicable, as life has caught him in a mesh that he cannot get out of. The sacrifice that he had made was all because of love, which Lizzy had failed to realize. After learning of Jeff’s sacrifice, we may think that she would give up on her own marriage, but that does not happen. The film is a realistic representation of the phrase, “No matter what, life goes on!”
Final Views
It is very sad that two hearts could not unite due to Jeff’s blind beliefs in religion. Was it his fault? Well, partially, the believer in him saw a slim chance of saving his beloved’s life by devoting himself to religion, but the way he chose to ignore the lover in him is really heartbreaking for the audience. His sacrifices did not affect Lizzy’s life much, as she had moved on and gotten married to someone else. The only one whose wound would never be healed was Jeff’s. Even though we may think of him as a selfish character who chooses to leave behind Lizzy, his sacrifice makes him pitiable. The film I Love Lizzy is not like other conventional love stories, in which the two lovers unite in the end. The incomplete love story adds a realistic touch to the wonderful plot of the movie. The plot has been beautifully woven, leaving audiences with scope to reflect on the sad realities of life.
