Gemma Stone’s journey as an influencer initiates with a video posted by her husband, showing her having a meltdown after being fired. Gemma became an influencer, pulling in fans through every video she uploaded. But recently she has been facing burnout after trying to sustain her followers’ interest, and to make things worse she found out her partner was cheating on her. But that same night she met James, a musician, whom she also planned to use. James presented himself as a melancholic musician, and in exchange for the use of his image, he planned on using Gemma’s status for his benefit. James pretended as a perfect romantic partner while he was trying to get rid of his depression, and James capitalized off of Gemma’s connection and wealth. What is astonishing is both were surprisingly able to experience success, but Gemma felt more in touch with James. But suddenly out of nowhere, a crisis occurred and both of them were forced to evaluate their relationship and their personalities.
Gema’s escalating career reached a fascinating height, captivating John Rogers who has now directed a movie based around James’s growth, while also answering questions about social media, if it’s reality based and what the possibility of it being real is.
Moreover, the movie also explores the possibility of a person being a ‘walker’ rather than an emotional being which is indeed the most consistent type of a relationship there is. The part that Rogers casts relates to the branding phenomenon when Rogers directs a strong focus on the relationships of stars and influencers to the client franchisee, which is unsettling to even begin to think about and yet we have all pondered it in hushed tones over the years.
Additionally, James’s mental health problems are so refreshing and the fact that the power dynamics in the relationship shift multiple times throughout the movie is interesting, and beautifully maintains the viewers engagement over the span of its 105 minutes. As Rogers steps away from some facets of the business while showing us bits of the relationship, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered, for example, the music scenes and the other performing scenes but some can be dubbed ecstatic and monotonous. This sadistic and repetitious over and through nature of powers and relations they further the sphere with the late of Yeh’s pieces seas and in particular that they will more profoundly than could have been done earlier roughly later.
Where the film excels, however, is in the relationship that the actors share, in this case both Khalil Ramos as James and Ashley Ortega as Gemma showcasing their best work while epitomizing how genuine feelings and cringe go head to head, and all the praises belong to their performances and the moments they share throughout the project.
While I personally believe that Che Espiritu’s cinematography is sometimes too overwhelming with brightness, the concept of a story being always captured quite well, and the parts of a few frames being designed to simulate the perspective of a phone screen is quite impressive, to say the least. This film does a great job explaining the significance of phone screens and social media by showing what can and can’t be filmed, as well as other elements that are intricately blended into the movie and edited by Noah Tonga. Furthermore, the editing incorporated into the film contributes to the pace of the movie which works well with the narration.
Despite doing an okay job portraying some of the questions that he raised in his movie, John Rogers’s vision of people viewing his movie as a relaxed romantic comedy coupled with in depth ideas about pressing topics is sadly far from reality. In case someone wishes to step back slightly and enjoy a light-hearted movie concerning romance paired with abstract ideas and the deeper meanings that arise from it, “As If It’s True” would be a perfect candidate.
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