August 1, 2024
One day, political scion Cass (Barbie Imperial) invited her group of spoiled rich kids for a trip to Sagada. They include CEO-to-be Ada (Sue Ramirez), depression-beset vegan Bella (Chaye Mogg), muscle-bound sex addict J (Naia Ching), and substance addict twins Kel (Ralph Gomez) and Sho (Phi Gomez). Much to the kids' annoyance, they will be chaperoned by Cass's strict and old-fashioned gay nanny Yayo (Phi Palmos).
At first, Alpha Habon's screenplay seemed to be a satiric take against the lifestyle of the privileged children of the rich and famous parents. We see the deplorable way they dealt with the working class around them. With their limitless cash reserves, they believe that they can buy anything out or pay anything off. If money cannot do the talking, they would resort to threats and blackmail unafraid, knowing that their powerful parents would bail them out.
However, during their first night in Sagada, something happened that took things to a sharp chilling turn. Its darkly comic tone then became darkly horrific. When they visited Yayo's home village Lunti, the atmosphere was unsettling from the get-go. Children with ominous shrill shrieking and voodoo-like rituals . Cass and pals could have skedaddled out of there right there and then, but of course, they stayed so we could have a movie.
While Ada was a slimy and manipulative queen bee, quirky Sue Ramirez had the charm to pull this character off without totally turning you off against her. Barbie Imperial's Cass was so wishy-washy, it is with her that audiences may feel more annoyed. The others had nothing much to do except be dumb jocks who can't feel the danger even if it was screaming at their faces. As the "gracious" host Yayo, Phi Palmos was an MVP in the ensemble. Characters like caretaker Gil (JC Gallano) and healer Inayon (Sue Prado) complicate the plot.
Director Rod Marmol ("Cuddle Weather," "The Cheating Game") helms a true horror for the first time. He did creditably most of the way, but faltered at the ending, with a jarring jump in action where a chunk of the climax skipped making things worse. With all those pastel flowers he used in the Lunti, Ari Aster's "Midsommar" (2019) seemed to be on his mind. To earn a less-restrictive R-13 rating, all of the cuss words were obviously skipped. 6/10.
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