Despite the monstrous performance of ‘Fan Girl’ in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), netizens were a bit disappointed with how the movie ended.
Different interpretations surged the internet as netizens gave their own conclusion on why ‘Fan Girl’ ended that way.
For some, despite being satisfied on the movie as a whole, they were disappointed due to the fact that they were left hanging after finding out the outcome of the movie.
satisfied sila sa movie ng fangirl y me is not? maganda siya yes pero sobra akong nabitin, hindi siya ending resolution. Overall maganda pero hindi talaga inaasahan yung matured scene, hindi ako sanay sa ganun. Dapat r-18 yung movie hahaha @SB19Official#SB19PlaysAmongUs
— closed (@chicKEN_dedios) December 27, 2020
Some were aghast as they didn’t find any relevance towards the movie’s ending from its entirety. Although it was a good film, some didn’t think that the finale was somehow connected on the movie’s story. It was another twist that shocked the viewers… and also made them disappointed.
Other netizens correlated their own experience on the movie while expressing their dissatisfaction towards ‘Fan Girl’s’ ending.
https://twitter.com/airahbellsss/status/1343465460612788226
Although netizens commended on the film’s dark story and explicit scenes that showed the reality of life, still they felt that they were left uncertain with its conclusion.
https://twitter.com/iamsamanthamae_/status/1343248724097527808
However, a netizen emphasized that the film’s ending will hit its viewers through their own interpretations, not how the director and producers perceived its finale.
https://twitter.com/iamAlyloony/status/1342756841109946369
Also, not everyone was disappointed with the final scene of the movie. A Twitter user interpreted its finale as a hopeful ending for all the trauma that the protagonist had endured throughout the film. Through the movie, it made her question her decisions and reminisce her experiences.
Fangirl takes matters into her own hands and ends the cycle of abuse in her own home, which is not an easy thing to do. It’s a hopeful ending for all the trauma Fangirl endured. I love that this movie disturbed me, bothered me hours after. Made me think of my own experiences.
— kaye. | meowkona (@idontwikeyew) December 26, 2020
Still, for the movie’s director Antoinette Jadaone, the movie’s ending is a subliminal message for viewers to act on something. In a Bloggers’ Conference, she recalled how they came up with the ending of the movie. She said that together with the producers and editor, they had a discussion on the final outcome of ‘Fan Girl’.
“Actually the ending ng Fan Girl’.… napagdebatihan namin with me, Dan, Bianca, and Ben, the producers and editor kung ano ang magiging ending,” Jadaone recalled.
She narrated on how they came up with the finale. Through the help of their filmmaker friends, they were able to narrow it down to two possible outcomes: defeatist or hopeful.
Direk Jadaone added, “Kasi before we agreed on the final version of the film, nagkaron kami ng parang preview with our filmmaker friends. Dalawa yung naging reaksyon nila. It’s either they think the film is defeatist, or the film is hopeful.”
And with the conclusion of the movie finalized, Direk Antoinette explained that she wanted to create a film that has a call-to-action in it. She wanted to incorporate the movie in accordance to what is happening in the Philippines. With a traumatized lead character, she opted to making “fan girl” win rather than to make a defeatist ending.
“Kaya naging ganyan ang ending kasi yun yung napag-decide namin. Na I think sa panahon ngayon, kung ano nangyayari sa paligid natin, mas tama na hindi gumawa nang defeatist ending. Mas dapat na nagwagi si Fan Girl,” she explained.
