Thou Shalt Not Bore
If you’ve ever sat through a sermon that went on too long, where the priest started sweating and the air conditioner broke, congratulations — you’ve already survived Banal. Directed by Peter Abanna, this 2019 Philippine psychological horror film takes the sacred and turns it into something far more terrifying: a 90-minute endurance test of your patience.
The word Banal translates to “holy,” but watching it feels less like divine revelation and more like spiritual punishment. This isn’t just slow-burn horror — it’s slow, burned out, and slightly smoldering with confusion.
The Setup: When Hiking Meets Heresy
Our heroine, Erika Villanueva (Bianca Umali), has a terminally ill mother, which in horror-movie language means she’s about to make every bad decision imaginable in the name of love. Her friend Yel (Taki) tells her about a sacred mountain that supposedly holds a miracle cure blessed by the Virgin Mary. Naturally, Erika decides to go hiking there, because when has trekking into a haunted forest ever gone wrong in Filipino cinema?
Joining her are her friends: Rich (Miguel Tanfelix), Thea (Andrea Brillantes), and Mac (Kim Last), a group of attractive twenty-somethings whose combined common sense couldn’t fill a communion cup. They pack their bags, put on their best mall-ready hiking outfits, and head off to find Jesus — or, more accurately, to be chased by demons in HD.
This setup could have been solid. The Philippines has a rich folklore about sacred mountains, spirits, and precolonial deities. There’s real potential here for a chilling blend of religious horror and indigenous myth. Unfortunately, Banal takes that potential, stuffs it into a backpack, and throws it off a cliff.
The Horror That Forgot to Be Horrifying
For a horror movie, Banal is weirdly afraid of scaring anyone. The first act is mostly the group walking through the woods, exchanging dialogue so bland it makes elevator music sound avant-garde. When the supernatural finally appears, it’s in the form of flickering lights, blurry ghosts, and sound effects that seem borrowed from a karaoke machine’s “spooky” preset.
At one point, the group gets possessed — but you’d barely notice. It’s as if the demons themselves got bored halfway through and decided to take a nap. The possession scenes feature about as much intensity as a TikTok challenge filmed at half-speed.
Even the deaths are underwhelming. Thea and Mac get killed by a “ghostly figure,” which sounds cool on paper — until you realize the figure looks like someone forgot to adjust the exposure settings on their camera. It’s hard to be scared when you can’t even tell what’s attacking people. I’ve had more frightening experiences trying to find the light switch in the dark.
The Cult of Confusion
Eventually, Erika and Rich stumble upon armed men in the forest, who reveal that — surprise! — this mountain isn’t holy at all. There are no Marian devotees, only a group of shamans worshiping a dark goddess named Ina, who demands sacrifices.
This should be the point where the film kicks into high gear — cults! blood rituals! fire! Instead, it feels like the movie wandered into another script entirely. The pacing slows to a crawl, and what could have been a tense showdown becomes a confusing sequence of people running, shouting, and holding torches dramatically.
The cult itself looks like it was organized by a group of theater majors on a tight budget. Their rituals involve a lot of chanting and waving hands around, but not much conviction. Imagine Midsommar, but if the villagers were just really tired and forgot the choreography.
Betrayal? Sacrifice? Meh.
Then there’s Yel’s big twist: she’s part of the cult and wants to sacrifice Erika because she’s “pure.” If that sentence made you roll your eyes, you’re not alone. The reveal lands with all the shock value of a church bake sale.
Yel tries to convince Erika to sacrifice herself to save her mother, but Erika has the good sense to say no — and the even better sense to shoot Yel with a flare gun. It’s the one genuinely satisfying moment in the movie, not because it’s emotional or cathartic, but because something finally happens. The flare gun ignites Yel like a human candle, and for a brief, glorious moment, Banal flirts with being interesting.
But alas, it’s fleeting. The final scene has Erika and Rich getting rescued, looking like they just finished a bad camping trip instead of a life-threatening demonic encounter. The credits roll, and you’re left wondering: was this supposed to be scary? Or was it just a public service announcement against hiking?
The Holy Trifecta of Problems: Pacing, Plot, and Performances
Let’s be clear — everyone in Banal is trying. The cast is made up of talented young actors who have proven themselves elsewhere. Bianca Umali, in particular, brings sincerity to Erika’s desperation. But sincerity can only do so much when the script gives you lines like, “We must believe… because that’s what faith is.” (Yes, someone actually says that.)
Miguel Tanfelix’s Rich spends most of the movie alternately sweating and looking confused, which to be fair, is also what the audience is doing. Andrea Brillantes and Kim Last barely get enough screen time to register before being sacrificed to the god of wasted potential.
As for direction — Peter Abanna seems torn between making a serious psychological horror and a campy religious thriller. The result is a film that commits to neither. It’s too slow to be fun, too ridiculous to be profound, and too dimly lit to see what’s happening half the time.
Holy Symbolism, Batman!
The film tries to mix Catholic imagery with pagan mysticism, which could’ve been fascinating — if it weren’t handled like a PowerPoint presentation on “Religious Symbolism 101.” There are crosses, rosaries, and statues of Mary, all framed ominously, as if the cinematographer thought dim lighting alone equals meaning.
But rather than exploring faith, guilt, or morality, Banal settles for vague gestures toward spirituality. The mountain, supposedly sacred, ends up feeling like just another patch of forest with Wi-Fi dead zones and no sense of menace.
When the characters talk about “miracles,” it feels less like devotion and more like a desperate plea for something — anything — interesting to happen.
The Real Miracle: Staying Awake
If you manage to stay conscious through the entire runtime, congratulations — you have achieved cinematic sainthood. Watching Banal is like hiking uphill through mud, only to find there’s no view at the top, just fog and disappointment.
Even its scares feel recycled from better movies. The sound design leans heavily on random thuds, whispers, and the occasional dramatic violin screech, all timed so poorly they become unintentionally funny. There’s a moment when someone gasps at a rustling bush, and I swear I laughed harder than at most comedies.
Final Judgment: Unholy Snoozefest
At its best, Banal is a missed opportunity. At its worst, it’s a 90-minute loop of people whispering about faith while wandering through the woods. It wants to be The Exorcist meets The Blair Witch Project, but ends up more like Religious Retreat: The Movie.
Final Score: 1.5 out of 5 Flare Guns
If you’re looking for horror that explores faith, watch The Medium or The Wailing. If you’re looking for a good hike, just go outside. At least the fresh air will scare you more than this movie does.
Because the only truly banal thing about Banal… is the movie itself. Amen.
