In My Mother's Skin

It is an interesting movie, even though it moves very slowly. Set in WWII in the Philippines, the father has some gold hidden, which the Japanese soldiers want, so there are perhaps more gracious to the family. One day the father leaves to find the Americans, and says he will be back soon. Behind is the mother, who is sick, her daughter Tala and son Bayani and a servant. After a number of days, Tala and Bayani set out into the forest to find father. Tala comes upon this shelter, and enters. A fairy appears, saying that only one who is truly innocent could find and enter, and she can provide wishes. To cure the mother, she gives Tala a jar with an insect inside. As the mother gets worse, one night Tala sets the insect on her mother, and it crawls inside her. Well, think along the lines of the monkey paw as to what happens. There is always a catch. The movie is well done, just slow, and it also has a lot of mood, which fits.

A wealthy Filipino family is struggling to survive during World War 2 and the Japanese army's hold on the country is reducing. The father Aldo has run off to help Americans, after stealing gold from Japanese and has hid the gold as well. With the mother's health deteriorating, the elder daughter Tala seeks help from a fairy, without understanding the consequences. Things take a dark turn when the wish granted by the fairy is not what Tala wanted, putting her and everyone's life at risk.

This is a slow burner and the eerie setting does seem to pay off. It is as gritty as the very first scene sets it up for and it continues to remain the same throughout. Aided by good performances by the two kids and enough scenes to terrify without the jump scares, the film somewhat falters in it's narrative. In order to narrate a straightforward story without much twists, the film sticks to a single tone and it just doesn't offer any surprises, resorting to showcasing one family's ordeal through the girl's pov.

In My Mother's Skin is a dark fairy tale from the Philippines.

In which a young girl is trying to help her family survive amidst the isolation of WWII...where they are stuck in no man's land, between Japanese and American forces.

Their father has gone off to work for the Americans.

While their mother is suffering from a debilitating illness.

And their aunt is being forced to search for a mysterious horde of gold, by their extortionist neighbour.

Therefore, leaving it up to the two siblings to scrounge up enough food to survive.

Their search takes them into the forest...where the young girl meets a mysterious fairy, who offers to grant her wishes.

She first asks for her mother to be healed.

Not realizing that this miraculous feat comes with a caveat...as it turns her mother into a flesh-eating beast.

So, when she asks for food the next time she meets her.

Her brother refuses to eat it...out of fear he will be subject to the same fate.

Understandably, this makes her wary about asking for any more favours.

But she is forced to ask for help, in order to try and save her brother's life...after he is shot by their neighbour, in a rage.

Because he is all she has left...after having mistakenly shot her aunt, when trying to exact revenge on the neighbour.

Not realizing that her mother had already taken care of that.

So, when presented with the oppourtunity...she can't bring herself to do it.

Knowing that she will just be deceived again.

Which puts her in a position where she just can't win.

You can't help but pray that she will wake up from this horrible nightmare.

Because things only go from bad to worse.

Thus, the fairy approaches her, once again, when she's at her lowest point.

Reassuring her that she can make it all go away.

Though, you can't help but feel this is all just a ruse...to get her to consent giving this evil fairy possession of her innocent soul.

Because, despite the consequences...all her actions were made out of love.

Which is why you feel so bad for her, after witnessing the trauma she is forced to endure.

So it's not really a surprise that this grim fairy tale doesn't have a happy ending.

3.5 out of 10.

Premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in the Midnight Film Selection.

Firstly, I do appreciate the creative takes on horror from the Southern Asia perspective as Asian horror movies from Japan and South Korea are pretty common. I rarely see horror flicks made from the Philippines and for the most part, this was pretty good. This movie no doubt has talent as there are some gorgeous camerawork, costumes and productions throughout with some interesting atmosphere and concepts explored. The camerawork is beautiful that helps build tension between the environment and setting.

The narrative that is mixed with war, fairies, and other horror elements is interesting as the narrative, while some improvements on the writing could be done better, provide some interesting concepts and topics explored. The sound design and the soundtrack is really good. Most of the performances were solid and the child actors do a solid job on performing their roles. The direction is pretty goo as well.

The biggest problem is the characters. While the characters have interesting moments, the characters felt too thin to fully connect with and made it a little difficult to fully connect at times. Including pacing as there were some moments that did drag slightly. I don't mind slow-burn horror movies but there were certain moments that felt too slow. Including some lightening issues as certain moments were a bit too dark to see.

Throughout, the gore effects were pretty good and looked pretty realistic. There were some interesting themes that are mean-spirited but I appreciate the director taking some risks on it's tone and setting.

Overall, it has it's flaws but I did have a good time watching it.

In My Mother's Skin is a fantasy horror similar to Pan's Labyrinth or Tigers Are Not Afraid. Its set in the Philippines during WWII and tells the tale of a family trapped in a situation where they will starve if they stay at home, but will likely be killed by the Japanese if they leave. The mother is ill and is dying and in desperation the girl turns to a fairy she finds who offers false hope.

I understand why some people have trouble with the film's narrative. The fates of each of the characters is potentially so bleak that it doesn't seem to really matter what choice each might make. It's dreadfully nihilistic and that has led people to label the film as pointless.

However, I find the film to be more about how different people respond to hopeless no-win situations and whether are not there actually is a noble way to face slow, impending, near-certain death.

There is no doubt that the characters contrast each other in interesting ways and parallels can be made about each family members decisions.

The film is a pretty unique coming-of-age tale that has a payoff if your willing to invest the mental energy.