“Sosyal Climbers” is a cleverly plotted but cloying to the point of cutesie Filipino romantic comedy about a young couple that stumbles into a shortcut to their hearts’ desire — getting rich.

It’s an Around the World with Netflix film that shows both evolving Filipino values and issues, and the Western influences that began with colonization and are ongoing, thanks to Western TV and cinema.

This rom-com is somewhat more sexual than most Filipino films that make their way onto Netflix, a lot more sexual than comparable Malaysian, Indian and Indonesian fare. But the genre tends to generate simplistic, lightweight and obvious stories and one dimensional characters all over Asia, outside of Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

The pun title is Filipino slang for “upper class” or posing as such. And that fits Jessa (Maris Racal) and Ray (Anthony Jennings) to a T.

They meet at a funeral, where she’s tacky and grasping enough to try and convince the mourners that the house purchase their now-dead father was just about to close is worth following through on. Ray, who weeps like a member of the family, was actually the deceased’s financial planner. As Jessa is cute, if a tad clueless, he backs her up with the family.

A romance begins — with assignations in parked cars, etc. They move in together as self-described members of “the aspirational class” (subtitled, or dubbed into English), trying to escape “the struggling middle.”

Her dream of dreams is to be wealthy. But what does HE want, she wants to know?

“I want you.” And he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make her dream come true.

She’s got to sell some houses to get rich quick. He needs to make himself and his clients wealthier by making smart investments, giving good advice and minimizing risks.

Damned if financial naif Ray doesn’t walk the couple, all their neighbors and a mobster known as Boss Gil (Raul Montesa) right into a pyramid scheme that the government busts up with arrests.

Ray and Jessa are on the hook for millions of Filipino pesos, and Boss Gil insists they pay everybody back. Their best bet for that is closing just one big mansion or McMansion sale. They team up to clean up one such place and make it more presentable. But a lot of work, a lot of wine, a lot of lovemaking and romping around the property convince the exclusive enclave where the house that they’re “Our new neighbors!”

Jessa and Ray decide to pass themselves off as Penelope and Kiefer to try to fit in. And once that lie is passed on, they figure out that there are ways to make this pose pay off — selling “housewarming gifts,” etc.

That’s the root of the comedy here, these schemes — including passing themselves off as pricey relationship counselors — to round up the millions they need to get back to square one financially.

There’s comical potential in some of the supporting characters that mostly remains potential. The situations have promise, too. But director and co-writer Jason Paul Laxamana (“Hold Me Close,” “The Ship Show”) never lets any premise, any plot twist or any character show much if any edge.

That renders the entire enterprise into pablum that flirts with insipid. We just know nothing bad will happen to these two adorable kid-con artists, and that they’ll see the error of their ways and repent. The treacly sweet performances by the leads underscore this.

Every film, even a rom-com, has to have stakes. Here those are so low and the obstacles so easily overcome — in the most Pollyannaish ways — that there’s little for the viewer to invest in.

Filipino film may be evolving in ways that plant its best films in the world cinema mainstream. But if “Sosyal Climbers” is any indication, romantic comedies and those who make them still have a long way to go to achieve surprises, laughs and love stories that translate and travel.

Rating: TV-MA, sexual situations, profanity

Cast: Maris Racal, Anthony Jennings, Ricky Davao, Carmi Martin and Raul Montesa.

Credits: Directed by Jason Paul Laxamana, scripted by Jericho Aguado and
Jason Paul Laxamana. A Netflix release.

Running time: 1:42