HIMALA REVIEWER
I.BASIC INFORMATION
• Directed by Ishmael Bernal
• Script by Ricky Lee
• Based on a true incident on a teenage girl in
Cabra Island in the province of Occidental
Mindoro between 1966 and 1967
• Year: 1982
• Setting: Cupang (believed to be cursed due
to the drought)
II. PLOT
In the forgotten town of Cupang in the
Philippines, a young woman named Elsa
(Nora Aunor) announces that she has seen
the Virgin Mary -- and then demonstrates a
new-found ability to heal the sick. Soon the
whole village has become the center of
international attention as people come from
all over for statues of the saints and bottles
of the village's holy water. Among the hordes
of visitors is a skeptical film director intent on
visually recording Elsa's healing powers --
and without his knowing it, some frames
capture a secret Elsa has kept from the world
for a long time, a secret which led to her
sister's suicide
III. CHARACTERS
• Elsa – Protagonist, Faith healer, said the
Virgin Mary appeared in front of her
• Aling Saling – Elsa’s mom, found her when
she was a baby
• Chayong – Elsa’s friend and confidante,
followed and believed Elsa
• Nimia – Elsa’s childhood friend, prostitute
• Igmeng Bugaw – Nimia’s dad, pimp
• Sepa and Baldo – also friends of Elsa
• Orly – filmmaker, making a documentary on
Elsa, outsider view
• Mrs. Alba – “entrepreneur”, takes advantage
of Elsa being a faith healer
• Lucio
• Pilo
• Bino
IV. PER SCENE
• Scene 1
➢ Chaos due to the eclipse
➢ An old woman prays because she’s
scared
➢ Lucio (33 y/o) reminds old woman that
it’s just an eclipse
➢ Elsa is nonchalant, watches the people
panic while inside the house (Elsa is more
than 20 y/o)
➢ Cupang: Has been experiencing drought
for one year
➢ People included in the panic: Lolo Hugo,
Bella, Pilo
• Scene 2
➢ Elsa climbing up a hill (burol)
➢ Elsa sees a woman (Virgin Mary)
** No trees in the hill due to the drought
• Scene 3
➢ Elsa talking with her adoptive mom, Aling
Saling at home while massaging her
➢ Aling Saling: complaining that people still
believes their place is cursed and that
Elsa is always at the hill and does not
seem like herself
➢ Elsa says that she is 24 years old
➢ Aling Saling wants Elsa to get married so
that someone can take care of her if
she’s gone, convinces her to date the son
of her kumpare
➢ Elsa tells her mom that she saw the
Virgin Mary during the eclipse
o Nakaputing damit (white dress)
o Belong asul (blue veil)
o May sugat sa dibdib (has a wound
in her chest)
o Umiiyak bago mawala (was
crying before she disappeared)
➢ Aling Saling is hesitant to believe her
• Scene 4
➢ There is an albularyo (faith doctor,
healer) at Elsa’s house, he is hitting Elsa’s
back
➢ Chayong, Mrs. Alba and Aling Saling are
in the room with Elsa
o Aling Saling is worried
HIMALA REVIEWER
➢ Albularyo: Matigas ang espiritu (Elsa was
said to be possessed by a stubborn soul)
• Scene 5
➢ Baldo sees Elsa back on the hill, kneeling
and not moving
➢ “May sugat sa magkabilang bisig”
➢ Walang nararamdaman na sakit si Elsa
• Scene 6
➢ Elsa was brought to the convent
(kumbento) accompanied by Aling
Saling, Baldo, Chayong, and Mrs. Alba
➢ Chayong is praying the rosary
➢ The Priest is interrogating Elsa but she
doesn’t answer. The Priest thinks that
Elsa saw the devil who was pretending to
be something else
➢ Priest points to an image of Mary and
asks Elsa if that’s what she saw, she said
yes but the difference is she had a wound
on her chest like a gunshot
➢ “Nanggaling ang liwanag mula sa kanya”
-Elsa’s explanation regarding seeing the
Virgin Mary during the eclipse
➢ Elsa said she was given the mission to
heal the sick. Not only their bodies but
their spirituality as well
➢ Priest does not believe in miracles
• Scene 7
➢ Aling Saling is worried people would
laugh at Elsa because people are thinking
that she’s crazy
➢ “Putok sa buho” – kantiyaw or pangasar
kay Elsa ng mga kalaro
• Scene 8-9
➢ Aling Saling is looking for Elsa because
she was not in her bed
➢ Chayong thinks that she’s on the hill
• Scene 10
➢ Baldo, Chayong, and Aling Saling sees
Elsa at where the Virgin appeared to her
(sa punongkahoy)
➢ Bisitang taga-Manila, Baldo’s friend: was
healed when Elsa stared at him/her
➢ Chayong and Baldo knelt infront of Elsa
➢ Pagtataka, pagkapahiya, pagmamahal sa
anak – Aling Saling’s feelings about Elsa
• Scene 11
➢ Baldo: dating sepulturero (former grave
digger), maniniwala sa himala
➢ Rumors are spreading that Elsa has
healed people and that their house
smells like sampagita
➢ Mga lalaki:
o believes that people in Cupang
are sinners so the Virgin decieded
to appear
o believes that the curse in Cupang
would be done because of the
apparition
➢ Priest: waiting for the bishop (Obispo) to
speak because the church cannot jus
believe Elsa
• Scene 12-15
➢ Elsa attempts to heal Lolo Hugo from
blindness, witnessed by Bella, Chayong,
Aling Saling, Sepa at Baldo
➢ Elsa was dressed in white, which was
borrowed from Chayong’s cousin
(“damit yan ng pinsan kong nagmadre”)
➢ There were flowers, a lit candle, and an
image of the virgin Mary in the altar
➢ They (Elsa, Chayong, Baldo, and Sepa)
had a small procession and they passed
by Lucio’s store
➢ Lucio told Baldo to do well so that the
Virgin Mary would take pity on him and
give him a wife
➢ On the hill, Nestoy, Intong, and Igmeng
Bugaw are trying to find the Virgin Mary
and inspect the wood where she
appeared
➢ Sepa got mad at them and accused them
of not having faith
• Scene 16
➢ Mrs. Alba, Aling Saling, Sepa, Chayong,
and other patients are in Elsa’s house
o First patient – naipitan ng ugat sa
leeg, Elsa massages her neck
➢ Chayong studies how Elsa does it
➢ Mrs. Alba tells Aling Saling she doesn’t
have to pay her debt and she doesn’t
have to work under her anymore. She
gives her money
➢ Mrs. Alba tells Chayong, Baldo, and Sepa
that they needed to help and watch over
HIMALA REVIEWER
Elsa because someone might get close to
them who’s a disciple of the devil
• Scene 17
➢ In Church with only a few Churchgoers
➢ Pries talks about ‘himala’ in his sermon,
where it comes from, etc
➢ Also talks about God being vengeful
➢ Miracles disrupt the system because
anyone could say they experienced a
miracle or that they are God’s
messengers
• Scene 18
➢ Chayong and Pilo were under Chayong’s
house, near their pig pen
➢ Chayong tries to push Pilo away while he
seduces her
➢ Pilo says that they should already have
sex because they love eachother,
Chayong thinks they should wait to get
married because that’s the only thing he
can give her
➢ Chayong also doesn’t want to because
Pilo has a lot of girlfriends and accussed
him of courting Elsa. He denies and tells
her that he can never court Elsa
• Scene 19
➢ Chayong is trying to soap away the spots
where Pilo kissed her
➢ Narding arrives (Chayong’s brother, 24
y/o), Asking for money (2000 pesos)
because he wants to apply for a job in
Saudi
➢ Chayong says she already gave her
money to Elsa. Narding says Elsa is crazy
and they cannot be made rich by her
miracles
➢ Their parents died due to hunger
➢ Chayong wholeheartedly believes Elsa
would take care of their family
• Scene 20-21
➢ Nimia arrives in the barrio, looking like
she came from Manila
➢ She goes to the house of Igmeng Bugaw
where there’s still a picture of her with
Chayon and Elsa
➢ Nimia did not want to come back when
the barrio exiled her but her father is
alone
➢ Her father doesn’t speak to her
➢ Nimia performs a magic trick and gets a
cigarette from Igmeng Bugaw’s armpit
➢ Igmeng Bugaw finally talks to her about
Elsa
• Scene 22
➢ Orly’s POV, looking at Elsa’s house where
there are a lot of patients already
➢ Orly wants to stay at Lucio’s hotel but he
says it’s for foreigners only because they
do not want to mingle with Filipinos
➢ Americans reading the tabloid talks
about Elsa who already cured more than
100 patients
• Scene 23
➢ Orly stays at Igmeng Bugaw’s where she
talks with Igmeng Bugaw and Nimia
➢ Orly’s producers does not want her to do
this project so she used her own money
➢ A jeep passed with a banner that says
“Elsa loves you”, via the loudspeaker
Baldo says people should let the Virgin
Mary into their lives and that judgement
day is near
➢ Elsa has “seven apostles”
➢ Nimia and Chayong see eachother
• Scene 24
➢ Orly takes pictures of Elsa healing people
➢ Chayong doesn’t allow her but Elsa and
her patient lets her
• Scene 25
➢ Chayong and Elsa talks about Nimia’s
return
➢ Chayong tells Elsa that she’d stop
teaching already in order to help her
➢ Sepa doesn’t tend to her children in favor
of helping Elsa, Bino and Sepa fight about
this
• Scene 26
➢ Orly interviews Elsa
➢ Elsa says she is not a healer but she’s just
a hand of the virgin (Hindi ako
manggamot. Kamay lang ako ng Birhen)
➢ Doctors and healers are starting to get
mad at Elsa, the priests don’t believe her
➢ She doesn’t only heal bodies but their
souls as well
HIMALA REVIEWER
• Scene 27
➢ Aling Saling tells Mrs. Alba that they
don’t have enough food because of the
people who stays at their house
➢ Mrs. Alba suggest they sell holy water
from Elsa (benditadong tubig)
• Scene 28
➢ Nimia is planning to turn the barangay
hall into a cabaret
➢ Narding and Nimia talk about what’s
happening
➢ Narding tries to get money from Nimia
• Scene 29
➢ Tourists continue to flock Cupang
➢ “Mula nang mag himala’y lumaki ang
income ng Cupang” – Mayor
➢ Problem: security, cases of rape, drugs
and murder increased
➢ Mrs. Alba is planning to sell Elsa’s holy
water abroad
➢ The Mayor wants to change the name of
Cupang
• Scene 30
➢ There is still no water in Cupang
➢ The curse was said to be by a leper
(ketongin) who was the Virgin Mary. The
Virgin says she will return but under a
different person again
• Scene 31
➢ Nestoy and other kids are watching
Nimia’s girls (called puta in the script)
change their clothes
➢ Nimia gets mad and shows her own
breasts
➢ Kabaret is about to open
• Scene 32
➢ Nimia performs her magic trick to the
kids, including Nestoy
• Scene 33
➢ Orly interviews Nimia
➢ Nimia was exiled by the barrio because
she was impregnated by a traveling
salesman, Elsa did not help her
➢ Nimia: Chayong – religious, Elsa – smart,
Nimia – the flirt
➢ “Pag gustong makita ni Elsa, makikita
niya.. walang makakapigil sa kanya.”
➢ Orly doesn’t believe Elsa. She just wants
Elsa to give her excitement
• Scene 34
➢ A TV reporter reports on what’s
happening
➢ “The church does not recognize the
apparition of the Virgin Mary and Elsa’s
healing powers
➢ About 2000 people waiting for Elsa
➢ Siyete singkwenta – one bottle of Elsa’s
holy water
➢ Siyete apostoles – wearing all white
➢ Pilo asks Chayong to marry him in court
(munisipyo)
➢ Chayong doesn’t want to leave Elsa
➢ Chua (rich Chinese man from Manila,
may rayuma) arrives. He goes first
because he donates big money
➢ Aling Pising asks for money from Chua
➢ Elsa arrives, nakaputing bestida at asul
na tali sa baywang
➢ Elsa looks different, more sure of herself
➢ People riot when Elsa arrives. They want
to be able to touch her or her clothes
➢ Chief: people coming together might be
the cause of revolution
• Scene 35
➢ Heaven – name of the cabaret
➢ Pilo and Narding talks about working in
Saudi
➢ When Pilo leaves, Chayong is waiting for
him. She says that the Virgin Mary talked
to her in her dreams and tells her Pilo is
the one
➢ Pilo doesn’t believe. Chayong says the
two of them would just believe they
would live happily ever after
• Scene 36
➢ Orly’s POV
➢ The kabaret wants to be closed by the
Siyete Apostoles
• Scene 37
➢ Nimia begs Elsa not to close the kabaret
➢ Elsa says she’s not the one who wants it
closed (Chayong and Mrs. Alba)
➢ “Pareho lang tayong puta”
• Scene 38
➢ Kabaret is closed
HIMALA REVIEWER
➢ Nimia and Narding talks
➢ Nimia has an experience with a sadist
and his gang, resulted to trauma
• Scene 39
➢ Nimia wants to return to Manila with
Igmeng Bugaw but he doesn’t want to
➢ Igmeng Bugaw sees himself as unlucky
➢ Nimia’s mom is dead
• Scene 40
➢ Elsa wants to rest but the people won’t
let her
➢ The people run to her when she goes up,
a leper would touch her shoulder
• Scene 41
➢ Chua’s car arrives and Narding acts like
he was hit by it
➢ It was a set up, Pilo and Narding holds
Chua at knife point (balisong), Driver
escapes
➢ When Chua was trying to get the knife,
Narding accidentally stabs him
➢ They get the money
➢ The driver catches up to them. Narding
sees the scapular of the driver and stabs
him too
• Scene 42
➢ Bino tells Pilo and Narding they shouldn’t
have killed them
➢ They would use the money to go to
Saudi, they ask Bino to go with them but
he can’t leave his kids
• Scene 43
➢ Chayong is dreaming of a garden (hardin)
she can’t reach
➢ She wants to give herself to Pilo already
➢ Elsa does not want to sell medicine the
following day
• Scene 44
➢ Chayong is waiting for Pilo
➢ Only Bino arrives, gives Chayong an
envelope (sobre) with money and a letter
• Scene 45
➢ Chayong and Aling Saling dresses Elsa up
while Sepa washes her hands and feet
➢ Chayong is sad 
• Scene 46
➢ Orly confesses to a Priest even if she is
not a Catholic ecause she wants to tell a
secret
• Scene 47-48
➢ 16 mm black and white documentary
footage simultaneously plays with her
confession
➢ Elsa and Chayong got raped by teenage
boys from Manila when they went to the
hill
➢ Chayong believed that Elsa could help
her
➢ Orly’s dilemma: to catch a scene for her
movie or help them
• Scene 49-50
➢ Chayong and Elsa got back home with
their clothes ruined
➢ Elsa said they were attacked by a demon
pretending to be a baboy damo
➢ Orly believes that this could be her big
break but she feels guilty for not helping
Elsa and Chayong
➢ She asks the Priest if she should show the
movie to the public or not
• Scene 51
➢ Chayong can’t move as Elsa wipes and
cleans her
➢ Aling Saling ang Sepa could just watch
➢ Chayong doesn’t speak as she resists the
scapular
• Scene 52
➢ Elsa was about to place her hands on Lolo
Hugo’s eyes but she stops
➢ Chayong is not there
➢ Elsa suddenly cries
➢ Mrs. Gonzales says the people should
respect Elsa’s tears and they pray
• Scene 53-54
➢ Elsa tells Aling Saling what happened
➢ She feels guilty for not helping Chayong
➢ Aling Saling prays and cries to the image
of the Virgin Mary
• Scene 55
➢ Chayong confesses but she just cries to
the pries
➢ She feels dirty
HIMALA REVIEWER
• Scene 56
➢ Intong and Nestoy eats the leftovers of
the patients at Elsa
➢ The pork has blood
• Scene 57
➢ Aling Saling, Mrs. Alba, Baldo and Elsa go
to Chayong’s house
➢ They see her body hanging
• Scene 58
➢ Nestoy and Intong are puking as Sepa
takes care of them
➢ Elsa touches their back and Sepa begs
her to take care of them too
➢ Sepa gives Elsa a bottle of her holy water
and she seemed to forget what it’s for
➢ There’s a cholera epidemic
➢ Bino was about to call a doctor but Sep
believes in Elsa
➢ Elsa tries to heal them but she can’t. She
tells Sepa to call a doctor
• Scene 59
➢ Aling Pising is looking for the miracle
➢ She wants Elsa to bring her kid back
• Scene 60
➢ A coffin is carried by four men
➢ An old woman throws a jar to the ground
but it doesn’t break, meaning there
would be more following deaths
➢ Three processions for the dead: for
Chayong, for Sepa’s kid, and for Aling
Pising’s kid
➢ Nimia would hug Elsa
➢ Aling Pising accuses that Elsa killed her
kid
• Scene 61
➢ Elsa’s house is placed under quarantine
➢ Elsa won’t be healing anyone so patients
were asked to go
➢ Lucio opens Funeraria Paraiso
• Scene 62
➢ Elsa looks at the place where she saw the
Virgin Mary/the place she and Chayong
were raped
➢ Wala na ang himala
➢ Elsa approaches Orly, Orly tells Elsa that
she was able to catch what happened to
her and Chayong
➢ Orly decided not to use it
➢ She changed her mind when she saw Elsa
at the wake
• Scene 63-64
➢ Mrs. Gonzales and Mrs. Alba does not
want Elsa to stop healing because they
have nowhere to go
➢ Orly leaves along with the other tourists
• Scene 65
➢ Elsa visits Chayong’s grave and she sees
Nimia
➢ Nimia finally asks if she really saw the
Virgin Mary, she says she isn’t sure about
what’s happening now and with what’s
happened before
➢ Elsa plans to leave Cupang and go to
Manila to be a maid
➢ Nimia offers that she can live with her
➢ They talk about Chayong
• Scene 66
➢ Pilo comes back, says that Narding was
already caught and he covered up for
him
➢ Pilo has rashes all over his face, the
doctor could not identify what’s wrong
➢ He asks Elsa why did Chayong kill herself
➢ Elsa admits that it was her fault
➢ Pilo plans to go back to Manila and go to
Saudi when he gets better
• Scene 67
➢ Cupang becomes a quiet town again
➢ Elsa sees the two teenagers who raped
her and Chayong
• Scene 68-70
➢ The town goes to church again
➢ Elsa still blames herself
➢ Aling Saling tells her that even if the
miracle wasn’t real, it wasn’t her fault
that she just wanted to help
➢ Nimia is leaving because business is weak
• Scene 71
➢ Elsa pukes (sign of pregnancy)
• Scene 72
➢ Baldo tells the people, people are
reluctant to believe because Elsa has
never been in a relationship
HIMALA REVIEWER
➢ Mrs. Gonzales believes that it’s an
Immaculate Concepcion and that the
miracle is back
➢ Baldo believes that this is a sign that the
end is coming
• Scene 73-75
➢ It rains again in Cupang, everyone is
happy
➢ They believe that the miracle is back so
everyone goes to Elsa
➢ Elsa looks out the window and people
start thanking her for the miracle
➢ She asks them to call everyone
➢ Everyone celebrates the rain, even Pilo
and Nimia
➢ Sepa goes to Elsa even if Bino still blames
her for the death of their two kids
• Scene 76
➢ Elsa goes back to the hill, people follow
her whle lighting candles and singing
songs
• Scene 77
➢ Everyone goes to the hill
➢ Mrs Alba sells holy water again
➢ Someone who looks like Chua goes down
the car (the people think its his brother)
➢ Orly comes back
➢ Elsa confesses
o “Walasng himala! Ang himala ay
nasa puso ng tao! Nasa puso
nating lahat! Tayo ang
gumagawa ng himala! Tayo ang
gumagawa ng mga sumpa at ng
mga Diyos…”
➢ Before Elsa finshes what she has to say,
she’s shot, riot happens
➢ People pass around Elsa’s body
➢ Elsa’s brought to the ambulance
➢ Sepa says that Elsa is a saint and that she
died in order to restore the people’s faith