As a Malaysian, I was ready to support this movie by watching it multiple times in cinemas. While a reviewer must stay unbiased, I was desperately rooting for this movie to be a success, since it was one of the few Malaysian movies that were in English, and would thus make it more easily accessible to a larger audience. Unfortunately, the movie was so fundamentally broken, that it broke my heart watching it. At first glance, the movie has a promising premise and a strong cast of YouTubers behind the film - the execution of the movie itself however, was shockingly bad.
The movie starts out following two high school sweethearts, Faye and Ben, as they finish their SPM exams (technically speaking, this is only the international equivalent of a standardised middle school exam). The two lovers and their friends make plans for University life - but naturally, things don't go their way. Faye finds out that ben wants to pursue a higher education overseas, while she wants to do the same in Malaysia. The two find that they had differences from the very beginning, but were to blinded by love, and eventually break up.
While reading this, one would expect that this is the entire movie, with the breakup happening somewhere in the third act. For some reason, the break up happens in the middle of the movie, with the last half dedicated to Faye "finding herself". All this comes with the expense of a condensed first act, thus resulting in two underdeveloped lead characters. While this would be enough to wreck a character driven movie, the two lead actors have little to no chemistry and cringe-worthy acting skills.
With the relationship barely lasting the half movie, the burden of carrying the movie thus falls onto Marianne Tan who plays Faye (which may perhaps be a blessing, as Brandon Ho is simply bad as Ben). Compared to her performance in Ola Bola, her acting in By My Side is noticeably worse - either due to her lack of screen time in Ola Bola, or poor directing in By My Side. While a mediocre performance would be perfectly fine, I am still baffled by the decision to have Faye narrate every scene in the movie. EVERY. SCENE. Even a narration at the beginning of a movie would result in rolled eyes among veteran critics. We are simply told every emotion, every thought, every action in every scene, rather than shown through performances or visual cues. Even in some cases, where the the director, Ruben Kang, has legitimately beautiful shots, the moment is immediately ruined by awful narration.
To make matters worse, Faye's portrayal in the movie is simply unlikable, and comes across as a selfish. She is constantly frustrated at Ben who is overseas focusing on his studies, and is unable to quench her thirst for attention, and views him as an unpatriotic brat for not liking his country. At the end of the movie, she has the nerve to ask for Ben to SING AT HER WEDDING. Which sane person would do such a thing to torment an ex?
Structure-wise, the movie doesn't even adhere to the most basic of storytelling tools, namely Rising Action, Climax, and Resolution. There is no development of characters and hence there is no tension felt in the build up towards the breakup, and by extension, there is no climax. The resolution simply happens when it dawns on Faye that she can live without her so-called-lover, and move on. While this would be an interesting note to end the film on, much of the movie meanders, following her as she mopes about Ben. The resolution comes across as lacklustre since it is dragged out longer than it needs to, to the point of boredom.
Another annoying aspect of By My Side are its side characters who are simply there for cameos and "comic relief". They are simply annoying, and grind what little dramatic tension the movie has to a halt. Jokes from their popular YouTube videos are simply compiled and recycled. In some cases, the movie simply pauses to show us a YouTuber, only to continue with the story. To avid fans and followers, this may seem like an "easter egg", but to others, it just comes across as jarring.
All that aside, what truly made me hate this movie to the core was its nerve to make fun of people who don't like Malaysian movies. In a flashback, Faye recalls Ben not liking Malaysian movies, and pokes fun at him. From the tone of the scene, Ben is portrayed as a brat who dislikes his own country's movies and it is implied that this is what the movie thinks of its "haters" as well. This would have been forgivable if there were any substance to this movie, or this message had crafted with any form of subtlety. By My Side does not deserve the right to provide "commentary" on such matters when it itself contributes to why many Malaysians dislike movies in general. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this movie is the embodiment of everything wrong with movies - bad acting, bad writing, bad structure, bad pacing, bad plot, bad humour, and worst of all, manipulating Malaysians with poor taste into liking such a horribly made movie.
While my review is definitely harsh, it is because this film deserves it. Reuben Kang is capable of producing better work, and his cinematography shows it. However, he struggles in transitioning from a short format suitable for YouTube, to a longer one for the silver screen. As a Malaysian, I wish to see Reuben succeed and direct better movies in the future.
The movie starts out following two high school sweethearts, Faye and Ben, as they finish their SPM exams (technically speaking, this is only the international equivalent of a standardised middle school exam). The two lovers and their friends make plans for University life - but naturally, things don't go their way. Faye finds out that ben wants to pursue a higher education overseas, while she wants to do the same in Malaysia. The two find that they had differences from the very beginning, but were to blinded by love, and eventually break up.
While reading this, one would expect that this is the entire movie, with the breakup happening somewhere in the third act. For some reason, the break up happens in the middle of the movie, with the last half dedicated to Faye "finding herself". All this comes with the expense of a condensed first act, thus resulting in two underdeveloped lead characters. While this would be enough to wreck a character driven movie, the two lead actors have little to no chemistry and cringe-worthy acting skills.
With the relationship barely lasting the half movie, the burden of carrying the movie thus falls onto Marianne Tan who plays Faye (which may perhaps be a blessing, as Brandon Ho is simply bad as Ben). Compared to her performance in Ola Bola, her acting in By My Side is noticeably worse - either due to her lack of screen time in Ola Bola, or poor directing in By My Side. While a mediocre performance would be perfectly fine, I am still baffled by the decision to have Faye narrate every scene in the movie. EVERY. SCENE. Even a narration at the beginning of a movie would result in rolled eyes among veteran critics. We are simply told every emotion, every thought, every action in every scene, rather than shown through performances or visual cues. Even in some cases, where the the director, Ruben Kang, has legitimately beautiful shots, the moment is immediately ruined by awful narration.
To make matters worse, Faye's portrayal in the movie is simply unlikable, and comes across as a selfish. She is constantly frustrated at Ben who is overseas focusing on his studies, and is unable to quench her thirst for attention, and views him as an unpatriotic brat for not liking his country. At the end of the movie, she has the nerve to ask for Ben to SING AT HER WEDDING. Which sane person would do such a thing to torment an ex?
Structure-wise, the movie doesn't even adhere to the most basic of storytelling tools, namely Rising Action, Climax, and Resolution. There is no development of characters and hence there is no tension felt in the build up towards the breakup, and by extension, there is no climax. The resolution simply happens when it dawns on Faye that she can live without her so-called-lover, and move on. While this would be an interesting note to end the film on, much of the movie meanders, following her as she mopes about Ben. The resolution comes across as lacklustre since it is dragged out longer than it needs to, to the point of boredom.
Another annoying aspect of By My Side are its side characters who are simply there for cameos and "comic relief". They are simply annoying, and grind what little dramatic tension the movie has to a halt. Jokes from their popular YouTube videos are simply compiled and recycled. In some cases, the movie simply pauses to show us a YouTuber, only to continue with the story. To avid fans and followers, this may seem like an "easter egg", but to others, it just comes across as jarring.
All that aside, what truly made me hate this movie to the core was its nerve to make fun of people who don't like Malaysian movies. In a flashback, Faye recalls Ben not liking Malaysian movies, and pokes fun at him. From the tone of the scene, Ben is portrayed as a brat who dislikes his own country's movies and it is implied that this is what the movie thinks of its "haters" as well. This would have been forgivable if there were any substance to this movie, or this message had crafted with any form of subtlety. By My Side does not deserve the right to provide "commentary" on such matters when it itself contributes to why many Malaysians dislike movies in general. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this movie is the embodiment of everything wrong with movies - bad acting, bad writing, bad structure, bad pacing, bad plot, bad humour, and worst of all, manipulating Malaysians with poor taste into liking such a horribly made movie.
While my review is definitely harsh, it is because this film deserves it. Reuben Kang is capable of producing better work, and his cinematography shows it. However, he struggles in transitioning from a short format suitable for YouTube, to a longer one for the silver screen. As a Malaysian, I wish to see Reuben succeed and direct better movies in the future.
