I’m not a fan of horror films, let alone local ones. So it’s surprising to find myself in a movie theatre watching Adolfo Alix Jr’s Poon. Filming started 3 years ago, while post-production ended this year.
The movie begins with the death of the patriarch Peping Mentirosis (Ronaldo Valdez) under suspicious circumstances. His passing prompted their entire family to a tense reunion amidst the town’s observation of Semana Santa. At first glance, life within the household appears deceptively ordinary, but as the days passed, deeply buried grievances and raw tension erupted alongside unsettling supernatural events. The paranormal centered on the poons kept by the family for generations. These are 12 human-sized religious statutes that represented the 12 apostles, and the 13th “spare” poon (A saint that is not a saint – Austin).
The Cast
Berta (Gina Pareño) is the matriarch and wife of Peping. Sol (Jacklyn Jose) is her daughter and the first to see Peping hanging by a rope inside the room where the poons were kept. Adele (Lotlot de Leon) is the spinster eldest daughter of Sol who took care of the family. Ria (Janice de Belen) is the middle child of Sol whose husband Daniel (Allen Dizon) is the head of a religious sect/cult. Mae (Ara Mina) is the youngest child of Sol, and she is a balikbayan from Canada and married to Richard (JC de Vera).
Completing the cast is Carlo (Will Ashley), the eldest child of Ria and Daniel, and Faye (Althea Ablan) his younger sister. Austin (Joao Constancia) is the only child of Mae and Richard. Benok (Kelvin Miranda) is one of the caretakers of the property, and also the nephew of the family’s kasambahay-relative Gandara (Inah Miya). Marz (Nella Dizon) is a neighbor and carnal interest of Carlo. She also says that the house was haunted. SPO1 Michael Datuin (Bembol Roco) is the police investigating the death.
Their Stories
As the movie progressed, deep resentments and hidden agenda are revealed.
After her husband’s death, Berta is haunted by the 13th poon, even choking her in her sleep. Her outburst were dismissed because of her old age and medications. She is mostly bedridden because of this and rarely goes out of her room. She also dislikes Daniel because of his religious ties.
Sol is the quiet daughter of Berta and Peping. She is in favor of disposing of the poons by selling them to a neighbor. Her decision led to an argument with Adele and Mae. Sol was also visited by the 13th poon in her dream and tried to smother her.
Adele never married. She was left to take care of her grandparents and her mother while her sisters moved away from their home. This developed into a bitterness that eventually emerged during an argument with her sisters. Adele was the third person that the 13th poon tried to smother in a dream.
Ria used her return to their hometown as an excuse to solve their family’s financial woes. She pretended to care for Berta, only to manipulate and convince her grandmother to sell the poons and house to raise the money and get her share to pay for the money collected from their religious sect that she spent.
Daniel has a messiah complex. He brainwashed his followers into believing that the Apocalypse/Rapture was coming and asked them to sell their properties and give the sale money to them. Unfortunately, it never came, and now they had to pay back all the money embezzled by her wife from their followers.
Mae arrived two days after her grandfather’s burial, prompting her anger, arguing about coming home for nothing and the expensive plane tickets. She believes that everything is okay with her family, even supporting and understanding her husband’s frequent absence.
Richard is always away from the home. His excuse was to spend more time with their local friends, and the movie even hinted that he was having an affair.
Carlo loves to vlog and record things around him. In one of his photos, he saw a strange man looking out of the window in broad daylight where the poons were stored. Sol later told him that there was no one else in the room and it must have been the shadows.
Faye is drawn to the room where the poons were. Everytime she sleepwalks at night, she always ends up unconscious in that room. She also always felt the presence of the 13th poon either beside or at her back. Faye can hear it talking to her and is eventually possessed by the 13th poon.
Austin is the most lustful among the cousins. He once self-stimulated on his bed while Carlo was asleep, only to be startled before climaxing by an apparition of the 13th poon at the foot of his bed. Carlo is also enamored by Mariz (Nella Dizon), and once tried to sexually assault her. He was punched on the face by Carlo for that.
Benok is a distant relative and had a short fling with Faye. They were once caught kissing by Ria, and had to be separated.
[SPOILER WARNING] The Reveal and Ending
The family secret was revealed in an admission by Berta through a flashback.
Berta was a nun (Elora Españo) during martial law. Their convent was attacked by the police because of suspicion of harboring rebels. She was raped by one but saved by the young police officer Peping (Martin del Rosario), who eventually fell in love and married her. Everything changed, however, when she got pregnant by the rebel and not him. Peping became very cruel and mistreated Berta for refusing to bed him even after giving birth to Sol. In one scene, he even molested her while she was praying in the middle of the gathered poons. At one time, he dressed up as the 13th poon and desecrated her during her prayer ritual. Peping, in time, also molested Sol when she was older. His actions led to Sol being pregnant with Adele. The movie insinuated that Peping also started molesting Adele.
Everything that happened was put in writing by Berta. She also revealed their story to Ricardo (William Lorenzo), Sol’s eventual husband, who planned to bring the evidence to the police. He hid her writings in one of the poon’s back to make sure that it would not fall in the hands of Peping. Unfortunately, Rodrigo was shot to death one night by an unknown drive-by group of assailants in a car. The killer was never revealed, but Berta suspected that it was Peping who ordered the killing.
In Peping’s death scene, it was shown that Adele tried to calm him down when he unsuccessfully tried to destroy the poons with an axe. Peping tried to molest her but was stopped by Sol, who eventually strangled his father to death. In the same scene but a different version, Peping tried to molest Sol after assaulting Adele, but Adele was the one who strangled him by the rope instead.
Berta “confessed” to killing Peping, and was taken to the police station for questioning.
In one of the film’s revelations, Adele and Mae had a confrontation, and the former implied that his husband was having an affair. This led Mae to visit their old friend’s house demanding for her husband. She went to the back porch and found Daniel kissing the character of Rico Barrera. It was suggested that they became a throuple.
By the film’s ending, it was revealed that the evil spirit that inhabited the 13th poon was that of Peping’s. It eventually possessed Faye. When Faye last went unconscious inside the poons’ storage room, Sol followed her. Faye used his great-grandfather’s axe and hacked Sol to death, much to the horror of the entire family.
The Bad
Poon boasts a stellar cast, however, some characters came off underdeveloped and unnecessary. Some small plots also did not pay off, or did not relate to the main plot. Relationships were not also well established.
As an example, Benok and Faye’s fling came out of nowhere. Sure, they had small conversations, but that was it. It would have been believable had their feelings been shown to have developed throughout the movie. Austin and Mariz’s relationship in the movie was not fully established. Austin was malibog, but what prompted him to attack Mariz? It probably would have been more interesting if Austin assaulted Faye, in line with the theme of “keeping it in the family.”
Also, what’s the relevance of Richard being gay, and his eventual throupling with Mae and their friend?
In addition, why did the elder hija die when Peping seemed to only want to get revenge on his family? She only wanted to dress up the poons.
By removing these characters, the movie would have still propelled forward: Benok, Carlo, Mae, Richard, and Rico’s character.
The Good
What’s interesting is that the family squabble is relatable.
Adele, Ria, and Mae’s frequent argument is a staple in every Filipino family.
Ria’s pretentiousness and greed is common, and is a source of conflict. She is unapologetic about her situation and stands by her course of action. She would do everything to get what she wants. Adele’s plight and “sacrifice” of taking care of their elderly resonates most to the eldest children who are left the same responsibility. Thrust into the situation but not by choice, she is bitter and resentful. Mae’s panunumbat about sending money to guilt-trip her family is also not uncommon. It’s a subtle way to manipulate emotions and get her out of sticky situations.
Sol’s silence was also powerful but tragic. It was her way to stay strong despite her family’s history.
The house was the perfect setting for the movie, and the lighting has set the creepy mood.
Takeaway
Poon at its core is a family drama underneath its horror setting, where the real scare comes from unresolved family issues and the weight and burden of family life. Manipulation, greed, resentment, lust, and disillusionment come together to define the Filipino family that lasts for generations.
In the end, we are reminded that the scariest places we’ll ever live in are the unresolved generational trauma that we inherit and given from the people who live right next to us.
Poon has satisfied my curiosity and it was entertaining at its best.
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