I Wish You Had Told Me Review: A Moving Journey Of A Son For His Father

I Wish You Had Told Me Review: I Wish You Had Told Me is a tender, emotionally layered Filipino drama that follows Seph, a young missionary whose world tilts after he discovers a box of love letters hidden among his late father’s belongings. The letters reveal a secret chapter of his dad’s life.

The runtime of I Wish You Had Told Me is 103 minutes approx.

I Wish You Had Told Me Review

I Wish You Had Told Me is a riveting tale of a son trying to connect the dots about his father’s past after learning about a secret that he has never known before. Seph is a young pastor who recently lost his father, Otep, a profound believer in God and active in church duty.

However, at his funeral, a woman comes and claims that Otep had always been gay, shaking not only his family members but also the church. Seph, a devoted believer who never once questioned his upbringing, suddenly finds himself reevaluating everything when this secret comes to light. This pushes him to dig deeper into his father’s past and his own.

I Wish You Had Told Me is a beautiful movie that does exactly what it intends to do. It draws you in with its story and makes you feel sad and melancholic, with the tragic tale of a gay man who never got to meet the love of his life. Being born in a traditional and conservative Filipino family, nothing was a bigger sin for Otep than falling in love with someone of the same gender.

This is why he had to hide his identity all his life and even get married to someone he never wanted to. However, that does not mean that he never loved his son, because in the end, he chose to raise his son rather than pursue love.

The movie does a phenomenal job of going back and forth from past to present to depict the story of the son and the father, all at the same time. We see Otep relaying his heart into the love letters he once wrote to his pen pal, and in parallel, we follow Seph’s own emotional journey. He goes from struggling to accept his father’s true self to ultimately embracing him with complete love and understanding. The touching moments are the original highlight of this film, as the interactions between Seph and Otep do make you cry at times.

The cinematography is absolutely beautiful in this one, as both the Philippines and Spain are depicted with an artistic lens. I specifically loved the way the sprawling landscapes of Spain were shown, and the scene with the olive trees was the most stunning.

The ending is also very satisfying, especially when a truly evil man gets his retribution. Apart from that, even though Otep’s love is never fulfilled in the real world, the film leaves us with the comforting sense that the lovers are together in spirit, and that’s what makes this movie stay emotionally resonant till the end.

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Verdict

I really loved this movie because of how hopeful it becomes. It was also interesting to see how the movie does not criticize religion or portray it negatively. In fact, it highlights how love is a core message even in divine teachings. The real issue lies in how people twist those teachings to suit their own judgments, interpreting love in biased ways.

But what really made me completely hooked to the story is the bond between Otep and Seph, whose parental bond truly touches your heart.

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