MOVIE REVIEW: Firefly Is a Lovely Film About the Magic of Stories

(SPOT.ph) Firefly is framed as a recounting, with Tonton (played in adulthood by Dingdong Dantes) being interviewed about the provenance of his award-winning children’s stories. The movie then cuts to scenes set in the past, with Euwenn Mikael playing the young Tonton, who is told stories by his mother Elay (Alessandra de Rossi) about an island of fireflies somewhere in Bicol, where his wishes may be granted.

Elay passes away, and Tonton decides he has to bring her ashes back to Bicol, specifically to the island of fireflies, so that he may wish to see her again. He runs away from home and gets on a bus to Sorsogon, where he encounters an eclectic group of strangers (Epy Quizon, Ysabel Ortega, and Miguel Tanfelix) who decide to help the boy out. Guided by his mother’s stories, Tonton travels the mythical landscape of Bicol, and gets closer to a home he doesn’t even remember.

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Firefly is an ode to the magic of storytelling

The framing device is the weakest part of this movie. The story loses momentum as it’s interrupted by these static scenes of two people talking in a large room, saying very little that actually matters to the narrative. A lot of it ends up being redundant, and the staging of this supposed interview feels rather silly, with the journalist being needlessly adversarial to an author of children’s stories.

The movie just doesn’t need it. The story of young Tonton works well enough on its own, digging deep into an emotional reserve tied to the feeling of being young and losing something important. The early scenes that depict the relationship between Tonton and his mother really establish what is being lost. Elay, as played by De Rossi, is a warm, protective figure, always putting on a brave face for her child, knowing that her time is running out. She gently weaves stories to prepare him for what’s next, instilling a faith in the goodness of the world at large.

Tonton’s journey strains credulity at some points, but it’s all easy enough to forgive for the sake of its overall outlook. This is an optimistic film; a film that believes in the kindness of strangers, and in the magic of stories. It is at heart, a children’s tale, and it deserves a little leeway for the mild adventure that it presents for its young protagonist. Through it all, though, it never loses its tender core of melancholy, weaving it through the other characters. Each of Tonton’s companions get to tell a story of their own, each concerning something sad that they’ve run away from, or something that’s built up a fear in them.

And in telling those stories, the movie makes it feel like they’re healed a little. This is ultimately what Firefly is about. It presents a world that can be cruel and uncaring, but also one that is not devoid of magic. There are people, and they are capable of telling stories, and in so doing, they are able to turn a volcano into a fairy, or a place of sad memories into one where wishes might be fulfilled. It is in stories that we are to give structure to the chaos of the universe, creating a framework where we might come to believe that everything will turn out okay. Firefly seems to deeply believe this, and tells a lovely story of its own.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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