By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The frightening folk tale from the Philippines will be streaming globally this week.
Amazon Studios has announced that IN MY MOTHER’S SKIN, which we praised here, will launch around the world on Prime Video this Thursday, October 12. Written and directed by Kenneth Dagatan, it stars Beauty Gonzalez, Felicity Kyle Napuli, James Mavie Estrella, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Angeli Bayani, Arnold Reyes and Ronnie Lazaro. The synopsis: “Set in 1945 Philippines, at the tail end of World War II, we follow the story of Tala [Napuli], a 14-year-old daughter of a Philippines textile merchant. She lives in a war-worn colonial house with her sickly mother Ligaya [Gonzalez] and younger brother Bayani [Estrella]. When Tala’s father mysteriously leaves once more to barter for his family’s freedom with the Japanese, his family find themselves alone in their isolated forest mansion, awaiting his return. Not long after, Ligaya’s condition rapidly deteriorates. Desperate, Tala seeks out a mysterious fairy [Curtis-Smith] who has promised to protect her. Happy to oblige, the fairy gifts Tala a magical insect to cure her dying mother. Ligaya’s sickness progresses to the point where the pain drives her screaming in extreme anguish, banging at death’s door. Tala decides to release the magical insect, which burrows deep into her mother’s flesh and begins living inside her. And yet, the magical gift doesn’t deliver as promised. While her mother’s sickness disappears, in its place grows an insatiable craving for human flesh. As carnage ensues, Tala is forced to decide… Let her mother starve to death, or protect her mother and feed her bloodlust.”
