Feng Shui (2004 film)

Feng Shui is a 2004 Filipino supernatural horror film starring Kris Aquino. Co-written and directed by Chito S. Roño, it centres on a cursed Bagua mirror that brings death to those who stare at it, with the circumstances of their death relating to their Chinese zodiac. Its screenplay was written by Roy Iglesias. The film grossed ₱114,236,563.00 and was the highest-grossing film of 2004 in the Philippines. A sequel, Feng Shui 2, was released on December 25, 2014, as the official entry to the 2014 Metro Manila Film Festival.

In 2022, Feng Shui was digitally restored and remastered for viewing on Netflix in Southeast Asia beginning October 14.

Plot
On a bus, Joy Ramirez finds a package left by a passenger which contains a bagua mirror. Upon showing the mirror at Aling Biring's bakery, the latter tells her to keep the bagua and display to bring good luck to her household as per feng shui tradition.

Joy returns to her home and places the bagua mirror at their front door. A series of fortunate events happen: her friend Alice grants her a promotion and she wins a prize at a supermarket. The next day, Joy finds out on a newspaper that the man who left the mirror, identified as Evart Mendoza, was run over by a Rabbit Liner bus and discovers that he was born in the year of the Rabbit. Later, Joy learns that Aling Biring died from leptospirosis; her birth corresponding to the year of the Rat. Back home, Billy, Denton's friend, tells Joy that suspicious events have been occurring in their neighborhood focusing on Joy's house. During their conversation, Joy hears about her tricycle driver Mang Nestor being stabbed to death at a cockfight brawl, having been born in the year of the Rooster. She is later haunted by the ghosts of Nestor, Biring, Evart, and a woman.

Joy visits Evart's widow Lily, who tells her about the bagua's history; Lily found the bagua in a house she sold as a real estate agent and kept it. The mirror brought her good luck as her business prospered, but for each stroke of luck, a death followed afterward, with her husband dying after he tried to dispose of the mirror. She urges Joy to return the mirror to her, but the latter refuses and leaves. Later, after Joy accepts an inheritance from a late client, her husband Inton and children discover the corpse of one of the local security guards, who looked into the bagua mirror earlier while checking Joy's house for suspicious activity. Upon closer inspection, it is found that he died from a snakebite; Joy later realizes that he was born on the year of the Snake.

Joy, along with Alice and their psychic friend Thelma, seeks help from a local geomancer Hsui Liao. He reveals that the bagua was once owned by a wealthy Chinese family in Shanghai during the Qing Dynasty and Republican era. During the Chinese Civil War, the family was forced to evacuate, leaving behind a foot-bounded member, nicknamed "Lotus Feet", referencing to the Chinese tradition of binding the feet of young girls to avert its physical growth. Her servants then joined the Chinese Communist Party and burning her at the stake. As she perished, she took the bagua and placed a curse on it, taking the soul of anyone who sees their reflection on the mirror.

Alice then realizes that she had glanced at the mirror earlier at her first visit in Joy's house after having moved it at the back doorway. Having suspected her husband's affair with his former lover Dina, Joy confronts him. She later realizes after accepting her supermarket prize that Alice is the next victim. Alice, who was born in the year of the Horse, is assaulted by a drunk neighbor and dies after falling on a stack of crates of Red Horse Beer bottles from her window. The ghosts of the dead haunt Joy's house and her family is forced to flee. Joy attempts to destroy the mirror, but is stopped by Alice's spirit and subsequently passes out.

The next morning, Hsui Liao calls Joy and tells her that to end the curse, she must reject offers of good luck and then destroy the mirror. Just before they leave, Billy gets involved in an accident and Joy donates blood to save him. She then realizes that Inton is the next victim after accepting an offer from Billy's uncle to stay at a relative's condominium. Joy arrives at the motel where Inton and Dina are to warn them but arrives too late as Dina's husband Louie arrives and kills his wife and Inton in which Louie has a dog tattoo on his right shoulder which means both of them were born in the year of the Dog. As Joy pleads for her life, Louie commits suicide with his shotgun. Meanwhile, as Thelma drives Denton and his sister Ingrid to their mother, she sees a truck of livestock in front of her car. Upon asking the children, she realizes that Ingrid was born in the year of the Rooster, and Denton and herself were both born on the year of the Ox. Horrified, Thelma tries to evade the truck but stumbles upon an oncoming vehicle.

Joy arrives home and is met by Lily's lawyer, who is tasked to recover the bagua from Joy in exchange for money, but the latter firmly refuses. Distraught by preceding events, Joy finally destroys the mirror. Thelma arrives with Denton and Ingrid. Joy is relieved at ending the curse before realizing that they were all killed in the road accident earlier when she sees her dead husband reuniting with their children as she screams in horror.

Sometime later, a couple moves into a neighboring house as their twin daughters wander into Joy's former home, finding the restored bagua and bringing it home as the Lotus Lady looks on from a window.

Main cast

 * Kris Aquino as Joy Ramirez
 * Jay Manalo as Inton Ramirez

Supporting cast

 * Lotlot de Leon as Alice
 * Ilonah Jean as Thelma
 * John Vladimir Manalo as Denton Ramirez
 * Julianne Gomez as Ingrid Ramirez
 * Ernesto Sto. Tomas as Billy
 * Cherry Pie Picache as Lily Mendoza
 * Nonie Buencamino as Louie
 * Jenny Miller as Dina
 * Gerard Pizzaras as Teodoro, Billy's uncle
 * Joonee Gamboa as Hsui Liao
 * Daria Ramirez as Inton's Mother
 * Archie Adamos as Tito
 * Emil Sandoval as Evart Mendoza
 * Luz Fernandez as Aling Biring
 * Leo Gamboa as Mang Nestor
 * Mon Confiado as Raul
 * Denise Joaquin as Office mate
 * Jon Achaval as Mr. Mateo
 * Hazel Espinosa as Billy's aunt
 * Jenine Desiderio as Wife Neighbor
 * Froilan Sales as Husband Neighbor
 * Archie Ventosa as Atty. Regalado
 * Aloynius Noroña as Atty. Ocampo
 * Bianca Ito as Girl 1
 * Blanca Ate as Girl 2
 * Rosie Salco as Lotus Lady

Themes
Film critic Ryan Oquiza highlighted the film's emphasis on the struggle for affluence, expounding on "how it unnerves the middle class from their life of luxury, showing cracks in the seams of gated communities and interrogating their faith in fate" while the recurring themes of Chinese astrology "mystifies the idea of affluence as an unachievable, lofty, and at times, sinister concept". He also interpreted the film's message to suggest that to become rich, one must surrender his/her morals and prepare to have others bear the brunt of the person's self-interest.

Reception
The film was released at the time that 'Asian horror' gained popularity. It was a critical and commercial success, receiving positive reception from critics and audiences alike, and grossing ₱114,236,563 at the box-office making it the first local horror film to breach the 100 million pesos milestone at the box office. The film was the first in the line-up of box-office horror hit that Kris Aquino did under Star Cinema in which she was tagged as "Philippine's Box-office Horror Queen". It was followed by Sukob (also directed by Roño), Dalaw, and Segunda Mano.

Sequel
A sequel was confirmed by Kris Aquino, and the cast includes Coco Martin, Carmi Martin, Ian Veneracion, Beauty Gonzalez, Rez Cortez, Ian de Leon, Martin Escudero, Elizabeth Chua, Diana Zubiri, Francine Prieto, Pinky Marquez, Raikko Mateo, Kych Cyl Minemoto, Randy See, and Teodoro Baldomaro. Roño returned to direct the film. It served as Star Cinema's official entry to the 2014 Metro Manila Film Festival. The film focused on Coco Martin's character who, upon getting the cursed bagua, starts to get all the luck and prosperity he could get in his life, but with deadly consequences. Kris Aquino reprised her role as Joy Ramirez to save him from the curse, as did Cherry Pie Picache and Joonie Gamboa. Filming of the film commenced by late August 2014.

Parodies

 * In the 2012 comedy film Sisterakas, the protagonist Bernice (played by Vice Ganda) hires Lotus Feet, who turns out to be a DVD vendor, to scare off her business rival Roselle (played by Kris Aquino), which leads to her falling down a stairwell and fracturing her foot. The film reused the scene where Lotus Feet was holding Alice's battered corpse in the original film.
 * In the 2014 comedy film The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin, the titular character (also played by Vice Ganda) uses a bagua mirror to distinguish Aquino's son Bimbee from a group of similar-looking children by seeing which of them will scream upon seeing the mirror. The Amazing Praybent Benjamin was also part of the 2014 Metro Manila Film Festival which included the film's sequel.