In My Mother's Skin

Lore & Background

In My Mother's Skin is a 2023 folk horror film written and directed by Kenneth Dagatan. The cast includes Beauty Gonzalez, Felicity Kyle Napuli, James Mavie Estrella, Angeli Bayani, Ronnie Lazaro, Arnold Reyes, and Noel Sto. Domingo. The film's plot is set during World War II in 1945 Philippines, where a wealthy family is trapped in their country mansion and terrorized by Japanese soldiers. The family's patriarch, Aldo, leaves to seek help from the Americans, and his absence causes the family to fear he will never return. The mother's health deteriorates, and the young daughter Tala turns to a deceitful and flesh-eating fairy, who plans to devour them all.

Reader's Guide

In My Mother's Skin is significant as a folk horror film that blends historical and supernatural elements, set against the backdrop of World War II in the Philippines. It premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival as the only non-English-language film in the 'Midnight' section, marking a notable international presence. Amazon Studios acquired the global rights, its first acquisition of the festival, and made the film available worldwide on Prime Video. The film received generally favorable reviews, with an 88% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 73 out of 100. Its legacy lies in its unique fusion of historical trauma and folk horror, offering a grim and macabre perspective on war and family.

Did You Know?

• In My Mother's Skin is the only non-English-language film in the Sundance 2023 'Midnight' section.
• Amazon Studios acquired the global rights to the film, marking its first acquisition of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
• Principal photography took place in Bacolod and lasted 18 days until July 2022.
• The film is an international co-production of the Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Plot & Premise

Kenneth Dagatan's folk horror film transports viewers to the closing days of World War II in the 1945 Philippines, where a wealthy household finds itself besieged inside its country mansion by Japanese soldiers who are steadily losing their grip on the island. The family's patriarch, Aldo, carries a dangerous secret: he is rumored to have stolen Japanese gold and concealed it in the surrounding area. Fearing that discovery would mean certain death for everyone under his roof, Aldo departs to seek assistance from the approaching American forces. His departure plunges the household into dread, as the mother's condition worsens and the remaining members grow increasingly desperate. It is in this moment of vulnerability that the young daughter Tala encounters a fairy who appears helpful but is in truth deceitful and flesh-eating, harboring the intention to devour the entire family. The film weaves this supernatural threat through the claustrophobic tension of wartime occupation, creating a narrative where the horror of the outside world and the monstrous entity within the home feed into one another.

Production & International Collaboration

Though it tells a deeply Filipino story, In My Mother's Skin was born from a genuinely international collaboration, produced as a co-production among the Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan. Principal photography was carried out in Bacolod, and the entire shoot was completed in a remarkably compressed sixteen-day schedule that concluded by July 2022. The ensemble cast brings together a range of performers: Beauty Gonzalez portrays Ligaya, Felicity Kyle Napuli plays the young Tala, James Mavie Estrella appears as Bayani, Angeli Bayani takes the role of Amor, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith embodies the fairy. Additional cast members include Ronnie Lazaro, Arnold Reyes, and Noel Sto. Domingo. The tight shooting window and the multi-national production structure suggest a project that had to move quickly and coordinate across borders, yet the result is a film that feels firmly rooted in a specific place and moment of Philippine history, even as it draws on the broader folk-horror tradition.

Festival Premiere & Global Distribution

The film's world premiere came at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it screened in the festival's Midnight section on January 21, 2023. Its selection carried a particular distinction: In My Mother's Skin was the only non-English-language film in that year's Midnight lineup, setting it apart from the rest of the programming. The Sundance appearance proved pivotal for the project's distribution. Amazon Studios moved to acquire the global rights to the film, a deal that marked the studio's first acquisition at that year's Sundance. Following the festival run, the film reached a broad audience when it became available for streaming worldwide on Prime Video on October 12, 2023. The path from a single Midnight screening to a global streaming release highlights how the film's folk-horror premise and its distinctly Filipino perspective caught the attention of a major studio, ultimately bringing Kenneth Dagatan's vision to viewers across the world.

Critical Reception

Upon its Sundance debut, In My Mother's Skin drew strong critical praise across major review platforms. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 88 percent approval rating based on 33 critics' reviews, with an average score of 6.9 out of 10. The site's consensus describes the film as a grim, macabre, and bleakly effective fusion of historical and supernatural horror. Metacritic, which calculates a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100 based on eight critics, landing in the generally favorable range. Individual reviews captured the film's unsettling impact: Benjamin Franz of Film Threat awarded it eight out of ten points after the Sundance premiere, noting that the movie is guaranteed to give audiences nightmares. The critical response consistently emphasized the film's ability to blend the very real terror of wartime occupation with the fantastical menace of a flesh-eating fairy, creating a horror experience that feels both grounded and deeply uncanny.