I'll say that just like the headline of this review, Gameboys The Movie left me with mixed feelings... here's why.

First the positives:

1. Watching Gavreel and Cairo along with Pearl and the rest of the gang after season 1 of the series ended is great. The chemistry the whole cast has been able to achieve is something remarkable and Kokoy de Santos and Elijah Canlas really complement each other as one portrays this super confident and sexy character while the other is the nerdy charming guy.

2. Once again acting and directing are on point, especially Canlas and de Santos as they both traverse through the joy and excitement of being together after season 1 ended with Cairo's mother allowing him to spend some time with Gavreel before joining her and his brothers in another province in the Philippines. They way they playfully navigate through a day of just mundane things like laundry or cooking is great, followed by Gavreel's silliness when they go to bed. As other characters arrive we see the joy and also a bit of shock to see the gang all together only to all be spoiled by the arrival of Aunt Susan who resembles so many nosy, annoying family members who have an opinion for everything and are normally wrong.

3. Pearl this time doesn't shine as much as she did in the series because there are more characters and situations arising around here but Adrianna So once again brings a much needed break from the lovebirds with some funny moments and also some dose of reality like the conversation she has with Cairo about the real reason Gavreel never went to NY to live with his Aunt Myra.

Now the not so positives:

1. The storyline was a bit shaky at some points. The movie is 1 hour 47 minutes long but some sequences are a bit unnecessary. Yes, I admit I enjoyed Cairo and Gavreel doing laundry and being a happy couple, but some of those moments tend to be a bit long and super cheesy. Then, there is no real reason for Terrence to suddenly arrive drunk at Gav's house, sure he knows where he lives and he is feeling super lonely, but he literally just crashes the party. Then Wesley arrives just following Terrence as their situation from the special episode (ep 13) in the series gets explained a bit more.
Achilles is another of those characters whose background is not very clear but he had a fling with Terrence back when he couldn't commit or didn't want to commit, so their tense moments, while well acted, really needed a bit more context than what they explained during their fight.

2. Gavreel's background was clear since the series when he mentioned his grandmother Cora raised him after his parents died. Besides that we knew bits and pieces from him, so I think something was a bit of a surprise was the appearance of Aunt Susan. The typical homophobic person who doesn't feel she is homophobic or rude because she uses the excuse of wanting "what's best for Gavreel" or in "the name of God". The religious zealot who confuses everyone and everything with her ideas and concepts of what a relationship should be. She brings a lot of conflicts to Gavreel and Cairo's relationship and also plays the "your aunt Myra is dying" card to cause Gavreel to leave to NY to be with her.
AND, one of the things that bothered me the most was how Gavreel was portrayed as a character here. In the series and in parts of the movie he is a super confident young man who knows he loves Cairo and is happy around him and his friends. But Aunt Susan just reminds him of his past and he just suddenly crumbles under all the stress and pressure. It was a bit surprising to see how this confident, nearly cocky guy, just goes to a puddle of tears and sobs because he can't handle coming out to her aunt, he can't handle his other aunt dying. I know people cope with stress differently, but in Gavreel it was a bit unexpected.

3. The ending was when the mixed feelings fully kicked in for me. On one hand, I knew Cairo had to go back to his family and after talking to Aunt Myra, Gavreel decides to go to NY to live with her. So that was expected... but at the same time it was sad to see them actually leaving and all the tears in-between. I know season 2 is supposed to come at some point and this movie was just a bridge provided by IdeaFirst Company because season 1 ended with the promise of season 2 but the pandemic has delayed filming, so the movie was done to quench our thirst for Gavreel and Cairo but with this ending, I wonder how is the director approaching season 2. Will the show jump several years into the future? Will we get Cairo in the Philippines and Gavreel in NY?

In the end, the movie was a bit long but it did was it was supposed to do, provide us with some Cai-Reel moments alongside the rest of the gang for us to recharge our batteries in order to patiently wait for season 2.