In the film "Maple Leaf Dreams" of Lonewolf Films and Star Magic, young stars LA Santos and Kira Balinger play sweethearts who migrated to Canada together to earn much (especially for Molly portrayed by Kira who wanted to build a house for her family and an auto shop for her dad played by Joey Marquez).
In the movie, LA and Kira are like young husband and wife who go through the usual sweet moments and ordinary struggles--LQ over pet peeves of the girl nagging the boy who in a bad mood spills his urine on the bowl, Macky (essayed by LA) persuading his downhearted girlfriend to come to terms with the death of her father etc.--in their live-in relationship except lovemaking they just make do in teasing.
In real life, the couple is compatible with each other despite their petty squabbles which makes the film relatable to a lot of people, young and old alike, especially Gen Z.
The simplicity of the movie has attracted a lot among multisectoral audiences.
In real life, though, LA and Kira are just friends, plain and simple although the actor wants more than just friendship.
"Actually, I like her so much. She's the ideal girl for me but we aren't meant to be at this point and time.
"I courted her but she jilted me. I didn't fault her for that. I still like her, though," said Santos in Filipino.
But their fans are insistent on their real-life romance.
Kira and LA already have their fan base that has been supporting and rooting for them every step of the way particularly when the movie was shown as one of the eight entries to the 2024 Metro Manila Film Festival.
According to LA, time will answer what is in store for them.
"Maple Leaf Dreams" will be reshown commercially on September 25, 2024 in cinemas.
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