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Janine Gutierrez in ‘Mag-iina.’ Screengrab/YouTube

Article (news)

Fred Hawson

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786770291450Screenshot 2026-08-15 at 9.12.02 AM.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Janine Gutierrez in ‘Mag-iina.’ Screengrab/YouTube</div>Anj (Janine Gutierrez) had lived in New York City since she was sent over there at age 15. She finally got to fly back home and reunite with her long-estranged family — her mother Mita (Agot Isidro), her aunt Ysobel (Cherry Pie Picache) and her grandmother (Jackie Lou Blanco) — for the occasion of the 40th day of her late father Ynigo Abreu Jr. or Ygo (Bart Guingona). Ysobel had adopted a young boy and renamed him Ynigo III (Lucas Andalio). An all-around housemaid named Katte (Ness Roque) held sway in the kitchen. For people who are familiar with his plays, if it is written by Guelan Varela Luarca, you know you are in for a profound emotional roller-coaster. &quot;Mag-iina&quot; is his screen adaptation of his own play &quot;Corridors.&quot; This play had won First Prize at the 72nd Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards in 2024, Luarca&#x27;s fifth, which elevated him to the Palanca Hall of Fame. It just had a staged reading by CAST this January 2026, so I was surprised that it took a big leap into a film version before a fully-staged production was done. Janine Gutierrez&#x27;s Anj was not going to let her family&#x27;s eccentricities push her down as she finally got to experience them first hand, bringing us all along on her wild outlandish 3-day ride. Agot Isidro had a field day with Mita&#x27;s neurotic psyche and emotional instability. Cherry Pie Picache&#x27;s Ysobel seemed so calm outside, but turned out to be a hot slurping mess inside. Ness Roque&#x27;s santol-squeezing Katte may be of lowest rank, but she proved no easy pushover in the way she marinated chicken or held black candle seances. The elegant Jackie Lou Blanco was deglamorized, with her skin looking like melted wax, ultimately even enduring to wear a whole-body prosthetic suit to execute the film&#x27;s most unsettling body-horror scene. Her high-handed, Spanish- and expletive-riddled monologue at the dinner table was unforgettable.  Child actor Lucas Andalio fell right in step and held his own among the senior actors, having to do some pretty sick, grotesque stuff that require post-shoot debriefings. Those bloody lactation scenes really pushed the envelope. This convoluted story was actually quite a big risk to bring to the big screen, as it blurred lines between what was a nightmare and what was real. Furthermore, even if the story&#x27;s premise starts off as merely odd, weird or creepy, it would later escalate into majorly bizarre and scandalous mayhem, the likes of which can throw off casual viewers. The visual creativity of director Giancarlo Abrahan was in overdrive to create the veritable Gothic twilight zone in this maze-like house, which in itself was a major character in this film.<div> </div>This review was originally published in the author&#x27;s blog, “<a href="https://said-fred.blogspot.com/2026/08/cinemalaya-2026-review-of-mag-iina.html">Fred Said</a>.”

‘Mag-iina’ is a wildly imaginative and grotesque tale where buried secrets, eccentric relatives and body horror collide inside one very unsettling house.

‘Mag-iina’ is a wildly imaginative and grotesque tale where buried secrets, eccentric relatives and body horror collide inside one very unsettling house.

Cinemalaya review: ‘Mag-iina’ turns family dysfunction into Gothic horror

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Cinemalaya review: ‘Mag-iina’ turns family dysfunction into Gothic horror

Fred Hawson

Published August 15, 2026 01:14 PM PHT

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movie review

Cinemalaya

Mag-iina

Janine Gutierrez

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