Among hundreds of films featured at the recently concluded Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF26), there was one particular film description that easily caught one’s scrutiny while browsing and sifting through long pronouncements specific to each title: “Up Against It.” Although this film enlisted an imposing line-up of international names for its ensemble, its synopsis sounded unduly familiar. Its indistinguishable narrative chimed with a popular Filipino film that had a successful run in 2012: “One More Try”. A tinge of curiosity persisted.
“Up Against It” is the latest film by English director, actress, and producer Trudie Styler. With award-winning Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, multi-awarded American actor Forest Whitaker, and Irish actress Eva Birthistle leading a dynamic cast, it gravitated towards the relevance of watching this film during its world premiere at TIFF26.
“Up Against It” is a romantic comedy movie where family distress unexpectedly necessitated a divorced couple to be back in each other’s presence. With their return came a hefty baggage of estrangement and indifference towards each other. The story focused on their sick child portrayed by young British actress Eden Hamilton. Her whiff of survival rested on the involvement and commitment of her clashing parents, Banderas and Birthistle.
Prioritizing their child’s health meant subjecting the couple and their new partners to a befuddled state of affairs. As they stared at the imminent life and death scenario, everyone bore the brunt of the couple’s decision to navigate the inauspicious denouement. Only the couple’s moral sense and firm stance can either redirect or backfire the ultimate resolution of the film’s conflict.
As presupposed earlier, the story of “Up Against It” brought back a similar thread with a well-received Filipino movie, “One More Try”, directed by Ruel Bayani with actors Angel Locsin, Dingdong Dantes, Angelica Panganiban, and Manjoe Zarudo. In said film, Dantes and Locsin were former lovers who separated and moved on with new partners. Their past relationship bore a son who was stricken with, you guessed it right, a rare form of sickness that is strikingly similar to Banderas’ and Birthistle’s daughter in “Up Against It”. The conflict for both films was one and the same.
The comparison between these two was definitely inevitable; thus, it became imperative to dissect how each director and writer tackled their respective films. Anchoring on the same child’s rare and life threatening sickness, it was interesting to see how each filmmaker hauled two alienated people back in order to save their child.
On one hand, “One More Try” may have achieved its reputation in utilizing fulsome crying, unbridled screaming, and ruthless recriminations in order to gain a box-office smash. Viewers must have drained their emotional tank watching unabated tearful encounters and intemperate clashes from beginning to end. There was no breathing space for viewers in between highly charged confrontations, edging the concept of indecency as reasonable.
On the other hand, “Up Against It” may have overcome the apparent drudgery of the theme by effectively infusing with subtlety the much needed humour to its grave leitmotif. Viewers were most likely receptive to comedic scenes tackling a serious topic. As such, the point of depravity in this story was presented in a stifled hilarity instead of an obstinate presentation. Styler’s directorial push may have been susceptible in the conformity regarding pretext of adulthood and childhood within a flawed family unit.
At the onset, viewers would have anticipated a provocative and blazing grand design in “Up Against It”. With the prospect of a couple reestablishing romantic ties, one can expect impassioned scenes from Banderas and Birthistle. With Styler’s approach, however, there was no explicit kiss and intimate scenes throughout the film. With or without the child present in each of the couple’s interaction, every conversation was devoid of sexual implication, maintaining a mindful exchange. Styler managed to project suitable flair and decency between Banderas and Birthistle.
In “One More Try”, the director literally depicted intimate scenes between Dantes and Locsin in slow motion. Consuming a considerable amount of time for this redundant effort was quite excessive. Such dispensable moments would have been more driven had they been spent meaningfully in establishing their son’s own struggles.
In “Up Against It”, there was a moment of abomination and condemnation between Banderas and Birthistle as they tried to reconcile and find closure to their past tumultuous relationship. The dialogue was vehemently unsentimental; yet every exchange provided a solicitous window to every painful revelation that both were oblivious for years. Styler ensured that this sense of precariousness stayed behind the couple’s respectful parameters.
“One More Try” portrayed the current partners as aggressive and manipulative villains, resorting to vicious attacks. In contrast, Styler provided a powerful nuance in “Up Against It” with the gentle and unobtrusive characterization, not just of the couple’s new partners, but the rest of the supporting cast. Even the demeanor of the in-laws were subdued and reverential. This provided a crucial sense of balance and calmness to the complexity and bewilderment of the collective problem everyone was dealing with.
In a dysfunctional family such as the one depicted in “Up Against It”, dynamics between characters were more compounded. Almost every next-of-kin threw themselves into the whole chaos. Eventually, the child became the unfortunate receiver of consequence. As the English idiom says, everyone is up against it, regardless of the outcome.
“Up Against It” also featured Spanish actress Ursula Corbero Delgado, Nigerian-born British actor Arinze Kene, and Singaporean actress Selena Tan.
Perchance, both movies may have borrowed a common theme that has been rehashed in many other films. Whether or not Styler’s “Up Against It” or Bayani’s “One More Try” achieved their respective cinematic visions, it is up to the viewers to decipher which film is noteworthy of their time and hard-earned money. ####
