Today I finally finished the movie that I've been meaning to watch completely. I've already watched it before, but I really find it too long to finish, and later on, I forget about finishing it. However, since I'll be reviewing Filipino movies this month, I decided to rewatch it yesterday and finally finished it. So, before we proceed to my review, let me briefly introduce what this movie is all about and how it was able to infuse a little bit of our country's history and also our folklore. Without further dilly-dallying, let's start!
About the Movie
Mallari is a drama and horror movie that was released way back in 2023. This is more than a couple of hours movie directed by Derick Cabrido. So the gist of this movie is that it's a fictional reimagining of the story of the first documented Filipino serial killer—Fr. Juan Sevirino Mallari. He was a parish priest during the Spanish colonial period, and when his crimes were discovered, he was imprisoned and later hanged in 1840. Before he was busted, he managed to kill 57 people—all because he wanted to save his sick mother.
This movie starts with a murder committed by him. He killed the woman who stole something, and just when the priest found out that her child was alive, hiding among tall bushes, the scene shifted. From the 1800s, it now showed a happy scene where Dr. Jonathan Mallari proposed to his fiancée. However, shortly after the proposal, he disappeared, leaving his bride-to-be baffled and angry. It turned out he dreamt that something bad would happen to her, and to avoid it, he needs to find the solution before the tragedy starts.
Little did he know that there was more to their grim family history and truth after truth comes to light. He will soon discover that to save his future with his fiancée, he must find the solution in his family's past. A decision must be made before it gets too late. Will he descend on the dark path his ancestors had taken, or will he choose the ones that were made by the latter ones?
I expected that it would be a historical rather than a horror, but I'm mistaken. The moment I heard the weeping, I was immediately creeped out. I really don't like hearing such because I have an unfortunate, creepy encounter with weeping ladies. When I hear that in horror movies I watched, I'm immediately convinced that it would spook the hell out of me—and indeed, it did. The horror factor was definitely there, and it did have jump scares that I think would surprise you. Also, the blend of visuals and sounds scared me and I wouldn't deny it.
However, if I'm to watch it without sound, I think it'll be less scary. The faces of the ghosts aren't that terrifying. Maybe I've seen more terrifying portrayals, so I'm quite desensitized to how they look. Perhaps the one that terrified me visually is how their set look. Even without thos ghosts, the old house setting was spooky enough. The figures of saints and also the antiques were just unsettling, and the rocking chair! The sound of it rocking without a person on it was just unnerving. Further, the cemetery that they included was something that would haunt my dreams. The disturbing statues there were properly utilized to induce more fear in that scene, and honestly, I'm more scared of those statues than the ghosts.
Enough with visuals, one of the things that I somehow like in this movie is how they're able to compress the story of the three generations of the Mallari. The way they narrate them was quite unconventional, and also at times it was confusing because it's different eras in one movie. Also, there are times they just abruptly shift from one era to another, and it quite disrupts the momentum of the story. But the good thing about those shifts is, as I've mentioned, they're able to tell the story of those three Mallaris without making them too long to follow. They just featured the important events in their lives, which is nice because it wasn't dragging that way.
And honestly, it took time for me to find it interesting because I'm curious about how and why Fr. Mallari did those killings—which was later on revealed in the latter part of the movie. I'm not familiar with his story, but I heard his name before, and because of that unfamiliarity, I was surprised by how it turned out. I'm really fond of our folklore, so the moment I saw some familiar creatures appearing, I was filled with excitement. Their portrayal made me remember the things I've researched before, and it felt nostalgic. I mean, it just felt nice watching something with the lore I'm familiar with.
Overall, for me, this movie wasn't exactly a convincing historical retelling of Fr. Mallari's life; however, the fictional concept of three Mallari generations suffering the same fate was interesting. I know some may not like how they compressed their stories through a mix of POVs from different eras, but for me, it's fine. Each scene had me on the edge of my seat, and somehow the end was on the neutral side. It wasn't exactly what I would call satisfying because for me, it wasn't the end I like. I'm more into tragedies, so I guess you can already deduce how it ended. But if you're curious about what happened in between and why Fr. Mallari resorted to killing just to save his mother, then you need to try watching this movie!
And before I end this review, I'll share with you its trailer, so—
Have you seen this movie before? Or is this your first time watching it? If you have some comments about it, then please do share them. That's all for today, everyone! I hope you somehow enjoyed reading my review.
Most of the pictures were screenshots from the movie while the first picture was edited in Canva.