Every country has that one movie where the supernatural and the sentimental collide like two drunk jeepneys on a foggy night — and in the Philippines, Halik sa Hangin (“Kiss in the Wind”) proudly wears that title. Directed by Emmanuel Q. Palo and written by Enrico Santos, this 2015 romantic horror-thriller manages to be sexy, scary, and spectacularly weird all at once — like The Notebook if Ryan Gosling were undead and allergic to Facebook.
It’s part ghost story, part tragic love affair, and part guitar safety PSA, wrapped in an atmospheric Baguio fog so thick you can practically feel the damp existential dread.
And against all odds, it works.
The Plot: Girl Meets Boy. Boy Is Dead. Girl Still Dates Him.
Our heroine, Mia (Julia Montes), is a young woman trying to start over in Baguio after her mother remarries a man with both money and the personality of a haunted closet. Like any emotionally repressed protagonist in a Filipino horror movie, she spends her free time brooding, wandering through abandoned houses, and picking up cursed instruments — in this case, a guitar that looks like it’s absorbed more souls than an internet café during Dota season.
Then, at a party in the notoriously haunted Diplomat Hotel (because where else do you meet your future ghost-boyfriend?), she meets Gio (Gerald Anderson), a mysterious heartthrob with the charisma of a perfume commercial and the wardrobe consistency of a cartoon character — he literally never changes clothes. Mia is instantly smitten. After all, nothing says “ideal man” like someone who materializes from the mist and refuses selfies.
Soon, they’re strumming love songs in the park, exchanging roses, and engaging in deep conversations about trauma, grief, and why Gio doesn’t seem to have a pulse. Things take a darker turn when Mia’s bully dies under suspicious circumstances, and everyone starts noticing a trend: Mia keeps being seen talking to herself. You know, classic signs of being in love.
The rest of the movie spirals into ghostly jealousy, spectral violence, and emotional manipulation — in other words, a normal Filipino romance, except this one comes with poltergeists and possession.
The Romance: Gaslighting, but Make It Paranormal
Julia Montes sells Mia’s slow descent into supernatural heartbreak with a kind of wide-eyed sincerity that makes you root for her even as she falls for a literal dead man. Gerald Anderson’s Gio, meanwhile, is the ultimate red flag — mysterious, passionate, and possibly decomposing.
Their chemistry is unsettlingly convincing, which is either a testament to their acting or proof that the afterlife has great dating prospects. Gio may be the only man in Philippine cinema who can burn your stepdad’s hand, kill your friends, and still make you swoon with a smile and a power chord.
It’s a film that asks the age-old question: can love truly conquer death? And more importantly — should it?
The Setting: Baguio, the Ghost Capital of the Philippines
If there were an Oscar for “Best Location That Could Also Murder You,” Halik sa Hangin would win by a landslide. The film milks every corner of Baguio’s eerie beauty: the foggy parks, the old houses, the cursed hotel, and the general sense that everyone you meet might have unfinished business.
Cinematographer Neil Daza deserves special mention for turning the city into both a romantic backdrop and a death trap. The mist practically functions as a supporting character — sometimes concealing Gio’s ghostly entrances, sometimes hiding the fact that Mia is about to make terrible life choices.
There’s something poetic about a love story unfolding in a city that’s perpetually stuck between sunshine and storm clouds. It’s the perfect metaphor for Mia’s situation — beautiful, melancholic, and perpetually haunted.
The Horror: When Ghosts Have Boyfriend Energy
Make no mistake, Halik sa Hangin delivers on its ghost story premise — but not in a The Conjuring way. It’s more “The Conjuring, but everyone is really good-looking and occasionally sings.”
The horror is slow-burn and psychological rather than full of jump scares. Gio’s presence is both comforting and terrifying; he’s a spectral softboi, alternately serenading Mia and threatening to murder her loved ones if she won’t die for him. If Twilight taught us that vampires can be romantic, Halik sa Hangin doubles down to say: ghosts can be possessive boyfriends too.
By the time the film reaches its climax — complete with burning guitars, exorcisms, and ghostly suicide pacts — you’re not sure whether to cry, scream, or buy holy water in bulk.
The Themes: Love, Death, and the Dangers of Over-Romanticizing Trauma
Beneath its gothic melodrama and supernatural flourishes, Halik sa Hangin actually has a surprisingly poignant emotional core. It’s about grief, forgiveness, and the human tendency to find love in all the wrong dimensions.
Mia’s longing for her dead father makes her vulnerable to Gio’s ghostly advances — he’s both a lover and a stand-in for all her unresolved pain. It’s the kind of layered psychological subtext that sneaks up on you between exorcisms and flying guitars.
And then there’s the film’s unspoken message: sometimes closure comes not from love, but from letting go — even if your boyfriend is hot and haunting you from beyond the grave.
The Supporting Cast: A Family That Deserves a Sequel
The side characters in Halik sa Hangin add just the right amount of grounded absurdity. Edu Manzano, as Mia’s skeptical stepfather, plays “concerned authority figure” with perfect exasperation, while Ina Raymundo brings maternal warmth to a story about spiritual chaos. JC de Vera’s Alvin, the poor mortal who tries to compete with an actual ghost, gives the film its most relatable energy — a man perpetually confused by why his crush keeps talking to thin air.
And then there’s Boboy Garovillo as Fr. Abellera, the priest who looks permanently 10% done with everyone’s nonsense. He’s the embodiment of every Filipino priest who’s seen too much supernatural drama and just wants to go home.
The Ending: Heaven, Hell, or Just Heartbreak
The climax ties everything together in a glorious whirlwind of melodrama, faith, and fatal kisses. Mia finally realizes Gio isn’t the romantic hero she thought he was but a lost soul chained to his pain. When she jumps off a ledge in an act of sacrifice, Gio catches her mid-fall — the ultimate ghostly chivalry. They share one last kiss before he finally moves on, leaving Mia alive, heartbroken, and hopefully less inclined to date the undead.
But because no Filipino horror can resist one last scare, the film ends with a cursed guitar making a bloody cameo at a garage sale — a subtle reminder that love may die, but bad decisions are eternal.
Final Thoughts: The Ghost With the Most (Feelings)
Halik sa Hangin is an odd, intoxicating mix — a romantic horror that’s equal parts gothic fairy tale and cautionary tale about dating while grieving. It’s melodramatic, sure, but it embraces that melodrama with confidence and sincerity.
It’s the rare Filipino horror movie that makes you feel terrified one moment and tragically sentimental the next. It may not reinvent the genre, but it doesn’t need to — it just strums its cursed guitar, sings its haunted love song, and lets the wind carry it away.
Final Score: 8/10
A hauntingly beautiful ghost story where love truly never dies — it just lingers, broods, and occasionally sets your stepdad on fire. Romantic horror done the Filipino way: passionate, poetic, and just the right amount of possessed.
