It’s the end of World War II. Aldo (Arnold Reyes) and his family live in peace in a country mansion, away from all the fighting. Until one day, a man named Antonio (Ronnie Lazaro) shows up with a group of Japanese soldiers. There are rumors that the family is hiding Japanese gold, and they’re willing to do everything to get it. Aldo believes that things will turn for the worse for his family if they don't get Antonio's gold, so he leaves his family behind to ask the Americans for help.
As soon as Aldo leaves, things do get worse, but not because of Antonio. Ligaya (Beauty Gonzales), the family matriarch, suddenly got sick with an unknown illness, prompting Tala (Felicity Kyle Napuli) and Bayani (James Mavie Estrella), the couple's children, to look for help. But what they found instead were dead bodies and a kind-looking, Cicada-like fairy (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) that can apparently grant wishes.
The 1940s were a dangerous time in the Philippines. Japan and the United States are at war with each other, and in the middle of it is the semi-independent Philippines. Despite being on the losing end of the battle, the Japanese's brief but memorable occupation of the country is notable for their clear cruelty towards Filipinos. Although it might be interesting to see Kenneth Dagatan's approach to all their many acts of brutality, there’s no indulgence in violence that happens in the film. Dagatan is never a fan of showing violence on screen. Instead, he leaves behind hints such as gunshots, hunger, and food scarcity to make the point that the oppression gets worse just as the Japanese occupation is about to end.
In the opening dialogue, Tala and Bayani talk about the ruthlessness of the Japanese army. They heard stories of them throwing babies into the air and catching them with their bayonets. Even though we never see them do this horrible thing, the story sends an everlasting impression to us, to Aldo, and to his family that we should never mess with these people. Their fear of them then sets off a chain of unfortunate events that becomes more and more dreadful as the story moves along.
Of course, it's the nature of folk horror to include elements of magical realism that touch on myth and religion. So it's inevitable for Tala to meet and befriend a wish-granting fairy that looks like Mother Mary in an outlandish bug costume. Her first wish is healing. But as we all know, things aren't always what they seem to be, and the promise of a better life is an illusion in wartime. She will soon realize that there's a cost to disobeying nature and rejecting reality.
It goes without saying that In My Mother's Skin won't make you feel good. The skittering sound design will make you squirm in your chair, and the ending will leave you feeling empty inside. It seems depressing most of the time, but I guess that's one of the most effective ways to say that we're in a really bad place during the 1940s.
4/5
