There’s really not much to explain about Netflix’s latest Filipino rom-com, titled Sosyal Climbers, as the film has a fairly straightforward narrative. It goes exactly like how you’d expect—by following a set template that’s applicable to everything, from acting to editing to direction. I’m not being demeaning here, but the truth is there’s not an iota of cinematic flair here; however, since you’re here, I’m assuming it worked for you. Let us get on with the discussion without further ado.
Spoilers Ahead
What is the movie about?
Real estate agent Jessa and financial advisor Ray meet at the funeral of one of his clients. When she tries to sell a house to the grieving family and gets criticized for doing so in a time like this, he comes to her aid and helps her push the deal through. She takes him out to dinner afterward, and they hook up on that night. Despite both wanting to remain strictly casual, they fall for each other over the course of two minutes and five or six montages. He asks her to be his girlfriend, telling her he’s going to fulfill her dream of living in a grand house, and she says yes. Ray is a great painter as well, but he can’t afford to make it a profession. Anyway, two years have passed in a jiffy, and we see Ray and Jessa living in a modest neighborhood. They’re nowhere close to living their dream, and the constant struggle has soured the relationship a bit on Jessa’s side. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Ray finds himself in huge trouble upon realizing he made a lot of people invest in a fraudulent scheme. Now he has to give all the people in his neighborhood their money back, including a local thug who’s known as Boss Gill.
Does Ray find a way to pay the money back?
It’s actually Jessa who comes up with the idea—she’s going to sell a big house in a posh neighborhood, and the commission from that will be enough to pay all the money back. But to do that, she has to convince her client, Adele—who’ll only say yes if her sister, Regine, approves. To make sure Regine loves the house, Jessa and Ray do a massive cleaning and make it viewing ready. Unfortunately, Adele calls and lets Jessa know that Regine is unavailable for the time being. With nothing to do and their lives in shambles, Ray and Jessa decide to let their hair down for the night. They get drunk on expensive wine found in the house before fornicating in the pool. Madeline and Fidel, a middle-aged couple who live in the house next door, see them and start thinking the couple are the new owners of the empty house. The next morning, Jessa and Ray find the couple at their door, ready to welcome them into the neighborhood. Jessa and Ray are obviously shocked, but just when they’re about to clarify things, the neighborhood couple mentions a costume party happening in the neighborhood where the winner gets a cash prize. That prompts Jessa and Ray to go along with it, as that cash prize solves a bit of their ‘money’ problem. So they pretend to be Kiefer and Penelope and end up winning the cash prize and also the hearts of the entire community. One old industrialist, Wendel Tecson, seems to be particularly impressed with their costumes, which Ray/Kiefer claims to make by himself.
With the cash prize, Ray and Jess pay back Boss Gill, but they still have a lot of people lined up and waiting for their money. And the only way to acquire the money is by keeping up the charade of being Penelope and Kiefer. Turns out, it’s quite easy to fool all these rich people in this neighborhood—with fake charity, sex therapy courses, and whatnot. It mostly works out for the couple, but what really solves all their problems is the house finally being sold, as Regine pays an impromptu visit and approves. The entire sequence with Giovanni the dog seems so extra, though, like many things in this movie.
What Happens To Ray and Jessa In The End?
Mr. Tecson getting interested in Ray/Kiefer’s art was always an indication of the old guy becoming an important part of the final third of the narrative—in a good or bad way. Since everything can’t be easy for the couple, he emerges as a villain with the revelation that he’s aware of what they’re doing. That effectively stops Jessa from leaving, though, as the relationship issues between the couple haven’t been fixed. Jessa is kind of taken with this life of ‘luxury,’ and she’s mad at Ray for not doing anything substantial to make his promise—the one he made while proposing to her—come true. The writing, though, is so superficial that it doesn’t make much sense.
Anyway, Tecson now wants to use Ray’s artistic talent and make a lot of money off it. If the couple doesn’t comply, he’s gonna out them. Here’s what I fail to wrap my head around – the man could have just asked Ray to pursue his dream of being an artist and offered to exhibit his work. That would have also earned him the money and things would have worked out for everybody. But he had to be the villain for the sake of it and put pressure on Ray. Our hero does come up with a number of great paintings though, and the first exhibition expectedly becomes a hit. However, he can’t take it anymore so Ray asks Jessa to go away while he reveals the truth to everyone. Jessa then has a change of heart as she realizes it’s Ray who makes her truly happy and nothing else. The community is understandably mad at Ray as they call the police. While Ray and Jessa try to get away, Tecson loses his head and tries to kill them. Thankfully the police come just in time to take care of him. They also appear to be gracious enough to wait for Ray and Jessa to make up, accepting each other’s marriage proposals and having an emotional embrace. Jessa’s dream of living in a grand house is not fulfilled but I don’t think that matters for her anymore. The end credits do confirm they have it pretty good after getting out of jail though.
