Thursday, October 30, 2025

Sine Sindak 2025: Review of NEAR DEATH: Attacks from the Afterlife

October 30, 2025



Professional photographer Julia (Charlie Dizon) jumped from the roof of their apartment in a suicide attempt. She landed on the hood of a car, so she was able to survive the fall. She was discharged from the hospital after six months under the care of her younger sister Mia (Xyriel Manabat). However, even if she looked okay from the outside, Julia was haunted by visions of malevolent spirits speaking an unknown language, but they all want to possess her body. 

Her doctor advised Julia to join a support group for suicide survivors called "The Guardians." There, she befriended neckerchief-wearing Lucas (RK Bagatsing), a man who tried to commit suicide because he had terminal cancer. Meanwhile, the spirits who bothered Julia were becoming increasingly aggressive and violent, such that even her nosy neighbor Salve (Lotlot de Leon) and the security guard Celso (Soliman Cruz) were physically assaulted by them. 

Before he directed action films like "We Will Not Die Tonight" (2018) and "Topakk" (2023), writer-director Richard Somes began his filmmaking career in horror. His debut work was a segment in "Shake, Rattle & Roll 2K5" (2005), and this was followed by full-length "Yanggaw" (2008). More recently, he returned to horror with a segment in "Shake, Rattle & Roll Extreme" (2023), and now, he is back with his latest full-length horror film. 

Somes still relied on cliche tropes of Pinoy horror films, like multiple jump scares, pitch black darkness, or destructive fire.  Julia's apartment building just had to be very old with long dimly-lit empty hallways, just right for a horror movie. For some body horror, Salve suffered from a progressive skin disease she caught from her pet dog. As for the main topic of suicide, it was unfortunate that Somes did not seem to offer a more satisfying final resolution for Julia. 

Charlie Dizon and RK Bagatsing try their best, but the main problem was precisely that tiresome screenplay, with the repetitive cycles of Julia's activities during the day, followed by the scary spirits when she got home at night.  There were stories brought up that led nowhere. Owing to crude effects, the spirits would be scarier if we never saw them clearly. The ending was so drab and low-key I don't recall what it was anymore when I got home. 4/10



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