‘Tarot (2009)’ REVIEW: A horror film that dehumanizes a belief system
‘Tarot (2009)’ REVIEW: A horror film that dehumanizes a belief system
Cara in Tarot (2009) | Taken from the Prime Video
The 2009 horror film Tarot might just be the most stereotypical mainstream film from director Jun Robles Lana. As soon-to-be weds Cara (Marian Rivera) and Miguel (Denis Trillo) hike a mountain with friends, a terrible storm hits, resulting in Miguel going missing. We are then introduced to the world of black magic as Cara uses her dead grandmother's forbidden tarot cards to find her fiancé, prompting a series of deaths among her friends.
Lana combines themes of family, romance, and superstitions, building on a plot that resembles most of stereotypical mainstream horror films in the Philippines. My biggest frustration about the film is how unhumanized everything feels. Horror should be done with caution, because if done wrong, turns an entire culture or belief system into a caricature. There are people who genuinely believe in tarot, or at least, have beliefs which overlap with tarot, such as feng shui. It doesn’t help that the majority of fiction involving their beliefs portrays them to be so absurd.
The most compelling point of the film was in the beginning when the storm hit. Here, Cara and her friends are caught in a dilemma on whether or not to leave without Miguel. This dilemma had a lot of potential where it was placed, but overall, was very short lived. It was unclear what decision-making factor convinced her to leave her fiance behind, other than the fact that her friends wanted to leave.
On the other hand, I feel like there could’ve been a version of this story where their dilemma comes later on in the story, to give enough time for Cara to either realize that she has a chance of finding him or that there is simply no hope. Instead, Cara decides to return home and dig up her grandmother’s casket to steal her tarot cards.
While there were a few moments where she was afraid of the black magic and went to her mother for guidance, it eventually became very predictable as to what would happen next — specifically who dies next and their cause of death. A plot about seeing what might happen in the future should still give the audience elements of suspense and uncertainty.
In the midst of a crisis, the instinct to practice beliefs we wouldn’t practice under normal circumstances is a very compelling topic of discussion. This film starts on the right foot but steps on its own toes as it goes on, having a series of predictable events that still lead to nowhere.
Tarot (2009) is now streaming on Prime Video.
