Soulmates: Ditto’s affection for Ayu lasts from their days in high school to adulthood.

#TemanTapiMenikah (#FriendsButMarried) finds its strength as a romantic comedy by eschewing forced storytelling.

The “friendzone” is a curious word. As a word, it matured with the internet — on social media, on meme pages — but as a fate, it could befall any couple. It is curious for its pathetic implication; that a person, usually male, is stuck in a friendship with someone when they desire more, but receive less. It is proof that one’s misfortunes are someone else’s as well; it may as well be a virtual, abstract support group.

The friendzone is also the theme of the novel Teman Tapi Menikah written by musician Ditto Percussion and his wife, actress Ayudia Bing Slamet, which chronicles the former’s more-than-a-decade long friendship with the latter.

It has since been adapted into a feature film directed by Rako Prijanto and starring Adipati Dolken (Ditto) and Vanesha Prescilla (Ayu).

The title of the film perhaps tips you off on how the film ends: Ditto ends up married to Ayu.

However, #TemanTapiMenikah chronicles their blooming romance by showing anything but.

The movie finds Ditto nursing an affection for Ayu, who’s seemingly not interested in a relationship with him. From junior high all the way to early adulthood, Ditto’s crush is rendered through in the film by the victims it takes; disinterest in other love interests, pining for the impossible.

Every move Ditto makes seems to be predicated on his desire to prove something to Ayu, a notable soap opera actress.

When he decides to be a percussionist in a band, it is because he promised Ayu he would get a car and give her the first ride.

For so many years, he deals with constant heartbreak, but his affection for Ayu — never overtly romantic, always platonic — does not wane.

This is where the movie draws its strength; Ayu and Ditto’s friendship.

Helped by a well-written script, courtesy of Upi and Johanna Wattimena, the film brims with unforced dialogue between friends.

Eschewing grand romantic gestures, it is easy to believe their friendship. Vanesha and Adipati’s chemistry is acted and directed with such care that you would trust their relationship more than any other offered in the film.

The sweetness between their relationships is always tempered by their sealed fate as friends. They balk at the very idea of romance; it’s just impossible to imagine themselves being together. How this particular friendship blooms is told straightforwardly — high-school love stories often take a similar turn.

Given the limited material to work with, the movie does not bend many conventions. It also does not perfect the formula of a high-school drama. Its underlying conceit is not all that complicated as well. It is just a story of a friendzone slowly maturing.

The film’s naturalism and hilarity, however, help. If there is criticism to be made, it is toward the film’s musical score. It serves its purpose — cheesy, romantic — but it is either too sentimental or too intrusive to merit our attention.

#TemanTapiMenikah is Falcon Pictures’ latest after the sleeper hit Dilan 1990. That movie, also featuring Vanesha in a lead role, fares worse because the script hinges on tasteless one-liners and uncomfortable acting.

By focusing on a single friendship and executing it with naturalistic and heartwarming storytelling, #TemanTapiMenikah feels less like a fictional film and more like chapters of a shared diary.

— Photos Courtesy of Falcon Pictures

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#TemanTapiMenikah

(Falcon Pictures, 102 minutes)

Director: Rako Prijanto

Screenwriters: Upi, Johanna Wattimena

Cast: Vanesha Prescilla, Adipati Dolken, Refal Hadi, Cut Beby Tsabina, Denira Wiraguna, Iqbaal Ramadhan, Sarah Sechan

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