White Lady (film)
| White Lady | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jeff Tan |
| Produced by | Roselle Monteverde-Teo |
| Written by | Joel Rufino A. Nunez & Don Michael Perez |
| Starring |
Pauleen Luna JC De Vera Boots Anson-Roa Jason Abalos Iwa Moto Gian Carlos Franzen Fajardo Ketchup Eusebio Glaiza de Castro Katarina Perez Angelica Panganiban |
| Music by | Von De Guzman |
| Distributed by | Regal Films |
Release date | July 19, 2006 |
Running time | 107 mins |
| Language |
Tagalog English Illongo |
White Lady is a supernatural horror-drama film released in 2006 in the Philippines. It is also directed by Jeff Tan. Principal photography of the film was done within the University of the Philippines Los Baños campus.
Plot
Two best friends from the province of Iloilo, Pearl (Pauleen Luna), a simple and smart girl, and her longtime best friend Jonathan (Gian Carlos), who secretly harbors romantic feelings for her, arrive in Manila to study in an Arts Academy. Upon enrollment, a clique of students led by Mimi (Iwa Moto), takes interest in them. Mimi is a pretty, rich and popular girl who gets her way through bullying others. Her minions consist of her right-hand woman, painter Eva (Katarina Perez), basketball jock Joshua (Jason Abalos), film and photography major Jowee (Glaiza de Castro), and delinquent band frontman Hector (Ketchup Eusebio).
Mimi takes Pearl and Jonathan into her fold, befriending them in exchange for academic favors from the smart and studious Pearl. However, Pearl rebuffs the clique after realizing their deceptions; while Jonathan, on the other hand, is seduced and swayed by a prominent fraternity. Soon after, Pearl and Jonathan's close friendship becomes estranged.
One night, Pearl experiences strange paranormal occurrences in the campus and has visions of a woman in white singing a folk lullaby. She and Jonathan learn from others of the story of a white lady which has been rumored to have frequented the school grounds. A carpenter reveals to Jonathan about a storage shed that burnt down and a vision of the said woman at the same spot. Pearl meets and befriends Tasya, a kindhearted Guimaras-born elderly woman residing in a house situated on the Academy's vast campus. Tasya tells the story of her granddaughter Christina (Angelica Panganiban), a simple girl also hailing from Iloilo and Guimaras who was reportedly driven into hiding by Mimi’s pompousness. Pearl immediately feels an affinity towards Christina since both girls have been on the receiving end of Mimi’s dirty actions.
The haunting worsens when Pearl lands the highly coveted lead role in the school play, which also earns her the brunt of Mimi’s ire since Mimi had wanted the role for herself. On top of everything else, a burgeoning relationship begins to kindle between Pearl and Robbie (JC de Vera), the rich, athletic and most popular guy in school, whom Mimi also desires.
Flashbacks show the story of Christina. Robbie befriends her after rescuing her from bullies and Mimi's gang. The two begin a relationship which his father opposed and forced them to separate and have Robbie choose Mimi. Soon thereafter, Mimi's friends begin to torment her frequently. Christina shuns Robbie after being having her way by his and the gang's actions. After the gang imprison her in a storage shed, Mimi poisons a janitor to silence him and Robbie, under her influence, murders Christina by setting the shed on fire.
In a series of intense ghostly appearances, the white lady manifests herself to the "in" group, letting them experience her wrath one by one. Hector is suffocated by rats when he falls into a hole after encountering the entity dissolving to rodents, Joshua falls from Mimi's bedroom window after a possessed doll chases him, Eva's arm is severed when she tries to escape an art room where she tries to finish a painting, Jowee is blinded by flashes in a darkroom and gets hyperventilated, while Mimi is hit by shattered mirror shards in a dressing room during a concert's premiere.
During a Halloween feast, Pearl receives news that her mother is suffering from leukemia and reveals to Robbie that she is returning to Iloilo. Robbie grows overzealous and disoriented after seeing Christina's vision in his cellphone. Pearl escapes to a gypsy tent wherein she is drawn to a vision that relives the final moments of Christina. It is from here that she learns of Robbie's crime and she shuns Robbie.
While on the run, Pearl is captured by Robbie and dragged to the storage shed. Jonathan witnesses this and intervenes only to be subdued by Robbie. In an attempt to silence them, Robbie sets the shed on fire and flees the scene on a motorcycle. The white lady, now revealed to be Christina, appears and causes his motorcycle to crash. He flees to a carillon wherein bells play a lullaby and Christina causes Robbie to fall to his death. It is then revealed that Pearl and Jonathan manage to survive and escape the shed fire unharmed due to Christina's soul diverting the flames. Later on, Christina walks to a light in a field, presumably the gate of Heaven, where God's spirit awaits her.
Later on, Pearl returns to the province and visits Tasya wherein she reveals that her mother has died of the ailment. As Tasya reveals that she sees Christina's soul departing for the after life, Pearl states that despite their losses, they vow to take care of each other. As they comfort each other, Christina's voice sings her lullaby as she gazes down from Heaven with God on the two in the form of wind and sunlight.
Cast
- Angelica Panganiban as Christina, a kind girl from Western Visayas who becomes the titular character following her murder as she seeks revenge on her tormentors.
- Boots Anson-Roa as Lola Tasya, Christina's grandmother, who hails from Guimaras. Tasya is a kind and loving woman who cares about her granddaughter. She has visions of Christina in scenes involving her.
- Pauleen Luna as Pearl
- JC de Vera as Robbie
- Ketchup Eusebio as Hector
- Iwa Moto as Mimi
- Jason Abalos as Joshua
- Gian Carlos as Jonathan
- Glaiza de Castro as Jowee
- Katarina Perez as Eva
- Franzen Fajardo as Kuya Pepo
- Nanding Josef as Mang Jani
- Malou Crisologo as Professor Barredo
- Ricci Chan as Professor Alfredo
- Emil Sandoval as Robert, Sr.
- Minnie Aguilar as Ate Teri