Aayush Sharma
Originally titled ‘Espantaho,’ ‘Scarecrow’ is a Filipino-language horror film that follows the journey of a woman named Monet (Judy Ann Santos) whose life turns upside down after her father’s death. In the tragic aftermath, her biggest concern remains that she couldn’t say goodbye to him because of a seizure she suffered while people were taking her father’s body for burial. She, her mother, Rosa (Lorna Tolentino), and everyone else try to bring normalcy to their lives by doing prayers for nine days. However, things go wrong instantly when Monet’s husband, Jack, brings a painting to their house. As soon as it arrives in their household, terrifying things start happening to the members, leading to the unraveling of the deadly secrets that were buried six feet under the ground by Monet’s mother. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Scarecrow Plot Synopsis
The movie begins with the death of the family patriarch, Pabling, and as he dies, Monet suffers a seizure. A few moments later, Pabling’s funeral takes place, and once again, Monet is experiencing a seizure, which prevents her from saying final goodbyes to her father. Her mother, Rosa, constantly tells her to take the medicines and not miss them. After Pabling’s death, Monet follows the traditional customs and plans the nine days of prayers, which will take place at their house. On the night of his death, the daughter dreams about her father, who warns her that she shouldn’t let him in. The dream confuses her because she doesn’t know what her father wanted to say to her. However, her husband, Jack (JC Santos), makes it clear that he might not be available during the prayers because he needs to go and see his child. Monet is Jack’s second wife and shares a son, Keith (Kian Co), with her. Meanwhile, her first wife lives elsewhere and needs his help because of an emergency.
Jack leaves, and after his exit, Monet and other house members discover a painting he left behind. The painting featured a scarecrow standing in the middle of a field, while two people reap their harvest. As soon as Rosa sees that painting, she panics and tells everyone to throw the painting away. Monet believes that her mother is being unreasonable and ignores her pleas. As the first day of the prayer ends, one of their helpers, Henri, gets attacked by locusts in his room. He tries flaming up the insects, but his own body catches fire, and when he opens the door, he sees a scarecrow-like creature waiting for him. Afterward, Henri vanishes and becomes a part of the painting. However, things get harder for the family as Pabling’s first wife, Adele (Chanda Romero), reaches their home, along with her children. She doesn’t like her ex-husband’s new wife or their daughter because she feels they ruined her life.
As the prayers continue daily, people start vanishing into thin air. Soon, they realized that things started getting worse after that painting arrived at their house. Adele takes Monet to one of her colleagues, who specializes in art, and tells them about the painting’s history. They learn that the painting was created by Sylvio Madamba, a prominent artist who worked in the ’50s and ’60s. However, the circumstances that led him to paint are horrifying. The painter fell in love with one of the young women he drew. Yet, she didn’t love him back. Consequently, he went mad and started looking for her. When he couldn’t find her, the artist began painting pictures with a deeper meaning. As they try to save themselves from the creature, Monet gets to know a lot of secrets about her mother, who might know something about what is happening to them, and the curse that seems to stem from the painting itself.
Scarecrow Ending: Did the Curse End?
The initial parts of the movie make it clear that something or someone sinister is about to enter the lives of Monet, Keith, and Rosa. Moreover, when Rosa sees that painting, she realizes something bad is about to happen. However, they ignore everything and continue with the pasiyam, a period of prayer and remembrance for the deceased. At the end of day one of the prayers, Henri vanishes, and no one can find him. After he vanishes, Pabling’s first wife, Adele, along with her children, Roy and Andie, visit the house Monet lives in with the intention of attending the prayers. Soon, Adele reveals she is here to sell the house and take the money. However, Rosa and her daughter refuse to let her do this. As the story progresses, Roy and Andie get frustrated with what their mother is doing and threaten to leave.
On night three of the prayers, Roy enters her home and begins changing his t-shirt when something sticky falls from the ceiling on his back. Upon checking, he finds out that he has a Leech clinging to his back, sucking the blood out of him. Soon, more and more leeches start falling on him before he comes face-to-face with the Scarecrow, who took him away, adding him to the painting. The following day, no one sees him, and his mother calls the police to report him missing. At the time, Frida, one of the househelps, tells the police about Henri’s vanishing as well. However, things get more terrifying when Andie vanishes as well, making Adele wonder if Monet has something to do with their disappearances. The entire situation makes the relationship between Adele and her step-daughter worse than it was previously. After seeing everything that has been happening in their household, Rosa tears the Scarecrow from the painting, wishing that their terrifying ordeal would end. Yet, the painting fixes itself, with the Scarecrow back in the painting.
On the fifth night of the prayers, Monet calls someone to see if anything is haunting the house. The lady quickly realizes that the painting is evil and makes everyone see the pictures of people trapped inside the art piece. That’s when Adele takes Monet and Rosa to one of her colleagues, who tells the entire story about the painter Madamba. After being refused by the woman he loved, the artist started dating other women and tortured them before killing them. After that, he slit his wrists and painted the corpses of women on the canvas. When Adele and Monet see the pictures of Madamba’s true love, they realize that the woman he longed for was Rosa. Now, they need to do something about the painting to save themselves. For that, the person who bought the painting has to die. In the end, the person dies, and with that, everything comes to an end. In the mid-credits sequence, it is seen that the garbage man is taking away the painting. However, a closer look reveals that the Scarecrow is no longer in the picture, indicating that the curse is far from over. Moreover, it means that the Scarecrow is no longer limited to the fields in the painting, and it can now move freely, hunting its victims. This unsettling revelation hints that the story is not over yet, and the curse seems to have merely changed form. As a result, the Scarecrow might just have found a new hunting ground in the real world.
Did Jack Die?
The painting comes into Monet’s life after Jack leaves her to meet the child from his first wife. He promises her that he’ll come back soon and will try to make it before the ninth day of the prayer. After he leaves the house, Monet, Keith, Rosa, and Frida stumble upon Madamba’s painting. As soon as she looks at the painting, Rosa realizes that it needs to go away, but no one listens to her. However, day after day, all the people related to Pabling begin to die. It starts with Henri, and one by one, family members begin to lose their lives. While terrifying things happen to his wife and family, Jack is nowhere to be seen, and at first, it seems like a tragedy has struck him because he is not calling to check on his and Monet’s son, Keith. Moreover, he is not trying to be in contact while the entire family seems to be praying for Pabling.
On the sixth day, the painting gets torched, and it seems like the curse may end. However, the painting returns to its original form and horrifies everyone. They visit Adele’s friend once again, who tells them all the previous owners of this painting are missing, and the last person to own the art piece was a businessman named Guang Xi Fei. While seeing the picture, Monet sees something strange at the back and realizes that Jack used to work for Guang and might have known about the painting very well. Even so, he still bought the painting and kept it inside their house, making Monet realize that Jack is behind all of the chaos happening. Moreover, they visit the lady who told them about the painting being evil, and she reveals that the only way to save themselves is to kill the person who brought this painting to them.
Their son, Keith, messages Jack saying that their mother has died, revealing that Jack is enjoying a getaway with his friends. When the latter arrives home on the ninth day of the prayer, he sees his wife, and before he can do anything, Adele attacks him from behind and makes him unconscious. A few moments later, Jack opens his eyes and finds himself tied to a chair. She confronts him for his actions and finds out that he did this to nab Pabling’s property. Monet realizes he never loved her and leaves him for dead. A few moments later, the Scarecrow comes out of the painting and takes him away. His death marks a pivotal point in the narrative; it not only seals the fate of those consumed by greed but also catalyzes Monet to confront her family’s buried truths and end the cycle of the curse.
How Did Keith Save Himself From the Scarecrow?
The entire premise of ‘Scarecrow’ revolves around the deaths happening because of a cursed painting. For years, it has been gathering victims from all walks of life and trapping them inside. During the nine days of the prayers, Pabling’s family starts losing members who vanish mysteriously. In a broader sense, they all die, and the reason for their death is the Scarecrow in the painting. After Adele gets to know the reality of the painting, she takes Monet and Rosa to her friend, who knows about the field of art. At the same time, Frida takes care of Keith at home. However, things change quickly when Frida sees ghosts around the house and runs away. In the meantime, the Scarecrow reaches Keith’s room and attacks him. Still, the creature cannot take him away because of the locket given to him by his father.
The Scarecrow tries very hard to take him away, but it fails, and Keith escapes. However, the Scarecrow kills Frida. The following day, Keith tells his mother about seeing the ghost and how his father’s locket saved him. On the sixth day of the prayer, Adele finds herself in danger when rats attack her. However, she manages to escape after getting mildly hurt. While they are trying to calm her down, Keith’s locket shines up, and the Scarecrow is back. Rosa sees the locket and throws it at the creature. The locket makes the creature disappear, and everyone believes that the locket has something powerful. They get to know that the locket consists of red soil, and they need it to save themselves. Finally, they get hold of red soil and make individual lockets. This shift in perspective adds a deeper emotional layer to the story and a father’s love for his child. Even though what Jack did overall is nothing short of terrifying, the choice to save his son hints at a slice of remorse.
Is Rosa Dead or Alive?
Apart from Monet, Rosa is another vital character in the story. She is Monet’s mother and the second wife of Pabling. She always supports her daughter and wants to keep her safe. That’s why she keeps telling her about the medicines, just like every mother does for her child. When Adele arrives at the scene, Rosa keeps on telling Monet to stand her ground and make her realize that the house belongs to her. But Adele hates Rosa because she is the reason why Pabling left her and their children. During an argument, Rosa makes it clear that she didn’t know about Pabling’s first marriage. However, Adele feels that she is a homewrecker, and just like her, Monet is also an adulterer. Interestingly, apart from Monet, no other person in the family is seen directly talking, and it seems like everyone is ignoring her because they don’t like her.
However, when the lady, who made them realize the painting’s evil nature, takes Monet, Adele, Keith, and Rosa to find red soil, everyone learns about Rosa’s true identity. In the film’s final moments, it is revealed that Rosa died when her daughter was young. On that day, she picked up her daughter from school, and while returning home, she saw Madamba in a car. The painter, who loved Rosa, goes before her and accidentally kills her with his car. Since then, Monet has been seeing her, talking to her, and sharing everything with her. She believes that Monet’s disease always stops her from leaving her alone. However, when Jack dies, and Monet breaks the cycle of the curse, she finally crosses to the other side. For her, staying with her daughter is not about what she is experiencing now; it is about love. Even in death, she couldn’t bear to leave her daughter alone, especially when so much darkness surrounds her. Moreover, Monet gets to know her mother more intimately when the reality of that painting comes out. The destruction of the painting ends a brutal chapter of their lives, making them closer than ever.
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