Parents' Guide to In My Mother's Skin

While some viewers might find some kind of morality lesson tucked somewhere in this nonsensical horror fairy tale, many others will only find frustration. Some of the frustration about In My Mother's Skin comes from the feeling that this could've been a much better horror film. There are many aspects around the edges that are solid. The slow, moody, and patient pacing, the decent performances, especially from the kids, and the well-shot and composed violence, gore, and shocking moments of brutality all, on paper, make for some great horror. But the foundation isn't there. There doesn't seem to be any reason for anything. Too much isn't explained or even hinted at, like why the fairy ("diwata" in Filipino) woman from the forest has it out for these kids and family or why she wants to torment them.

Filipino mythology generally suggests that if a diwata becomes upset or isn't properly respected they can cause illness or misfortune, but still, in this film's representation, nothing is implied, mentioned, or suggested. There is, simply, just a fairy woman of the forest who secretly has an old scary face instead of a beautiful young woman face who torments people and infects them with bugs, so the infected people will eat other people and themselves. It never becomes clear why this family and the two innocent children must suffer instead of the evil men around them. Many decisions and sequences also don't make logical sense. And the general delivery of scenes is disjointed, not linking up logistically with previous scenes. While many horror films work because of interesting mysteries, this one actively doesn't because of its inexplicability.