A FAREWELL TO THE OLD GODS AND THE OLD LIES
- Jan Writer
- Oct 31, 2024
- 3 min read
Movie review: Outside (2024)
Ever heard of an undead mother apologizing to her son mid-bite? That’s Carlo Ledesma’s 2024 film Outside, where zombies may roam, but the true infection lies within the decaying spirit of a family—and perhaps of an entire Filipino society on the brink of a Copernican transformation.
This isn’t a zombie movie in the way Train to Busan or Resident Evil might make you think. Instead, Outside reaches for a far deeper horror that’s less about gnashing teeth and more about gnawing truths, wrapping the Filipino psyche in a psychological thriller that defies expectations and digs into the trauma buried beneath the surface.
In the middle of a zombie apocalypse, Francis and his family, battered and broken, find refuge in a decrepit ancestral home—a house that, for Francis, isn’t a safe haven but a haunted relic where memories of abuse, silence, and domination were forged.
More than about fighting “the undead,” the film is about the deeper horrors of unresolved trauma, unhealed generational wounds, and the internal wars Filipinos grapple with in the name of family honor and obedience. As Francis transforms, you can see in him the ghosts of the old generation, their prejudices, and their refusal to adapt to changing times, which feel strikingly relevant as we enter what astrologers call "Pluto in Aquarius."
Historically, this astrological phase has ushered in eras of upheaval and rebellion, such as the French and American revolutions, signaling society’s push to shed outdated values in favor of new ways of being.
The parallels between this era in the cosmos and the geopolitical shifts we face aren’t coincidental. With America’s crumbling influence and the longstanding Aquino vs. Marcos narrative losing sway, the Philippines stands at a crossroads.
Are we on the verge of casting off the shadow of this once-revered imperial master and the political dynasties that have long held our post-colonial national identity hostage?
Just as Francis’s childhood home starts reshaping him, pushing him toward the tyrannical traits of his own abusive father, so too are we forced to confront our national legacy, lest it devours us.
Outside feels like the right film at the right time, forcing us to acknowledge the echoes of oppression that linger—whether they’re colonial ghosts or internalized hierarchies that we still live by in silence.
The zombies in Outside don’t simply lunge. They utter their last words from life, a heartbreaking reminder that each of these monsters was once someone’s kin. The family’s undoing becomes the country’s undoing, challenging us to question what it means to endure.
Can we bury our traumas, or do they rot us from the inside, like the festering undead that Francis tries to bury but cannot escape?
The film isn’t perfect; no doubt. It’s uneven and slow-burning, leaving some audiences disappointed in the lack of action. But maybe that’s the point—it’s less a spectacle than a challenge, asking Filipinos to wrestle with our own dead spirits and societal “undead” who refuse to rest.
As the world’s dominant powers weaken, systems—both global and domestic—undergo transformation, and the cultural zeitgeist shifts, Outside stares back at a Philippines ripe for its own revolution of values, one where the old gods might finally find rest.
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