Mikhail Red’s latest supernatural horror film, Lilim, revolves around a brother and a sister who ended up at an orphanage tucked away in the woods during the martial law era in the Philippines. Issa murdered her abusive father one day, and her brother, Tomas, was the only witness. He was not old enough to fully comprehend the torture his sister was subjected to daily, and he wondered if death was truly the only solution. Issa and Tomas left the apartment before the cops arrived.
Issa decided to drive to the woods and find shelter there. She remembered her mother telling them stories from her past, where she used to play hide-and-seek there, and before she passed away, she’d told Issa how she’d always wanted to run away with her children and find a place to live in the woods. Tomas couldn’t ignore the fact that his sister had committed a crime, and he didn’t think she could take care of him. When Issa stopped the car to explain the reason behind her decision, Tomas opened the car door and ran away into the woods. Day turned into night, but Issa couldn’t find her brother. She saw a woman in black clothes, her head shaved, dragging a heavy bag through the woods. She suddenly disappeared before attacking Issa. When Issa woke up, she realized she had injured her head, and she suddenly noticed a light coming from afar. She walked up to the building and realized it was an orphanage. Issa wasn’t sure if what she saw in the woods was real or just a fragment of her imagination.
Spoiler Alert
Why did the nuns worship Lilith?
There was something eerie about the paintings on the walls of the orphanage, particularly the one with the nuns and children. Issa couldn’t help but wonder what was behind the shadows that were so prominent in the painting. She initially assumed that it was a Christian orphanage, but she soon learned that the nuns had not dedicated their lives to Christ; instead, they were the worshippers of Lilith. She was the first wife of Adam and was said to symbolize the struggle of all women, and her independence from Adam is celebrated. But the nuns didn’t tell Issa that Lilith also represented chaos, seduction, and ungodliness. She is associated with demons and was said to steal babies in darkness. In Lilim, Lilith’s darker nature takes center stage, with her demonic wrath becoming the main threat the protagonists must confront.
Issa was relieved to have found a shelter for her and her brother, who’d also ended up at the orphanage. But she soon figured out that the walls of the orphanage hid several secrets. Issa was told that an elderly nun, Mother Mirasol, had locked herself in her room and dedicated her life to Lilith, but Issa felt there was something more to the story. When one of the orphan boys, Prinsipe, started to cause trouble, he was told that a family had shown interest in adopting him, but before he left, he had to bid goodbye to Mother Mirasol. Prinsipe was pushed into the room, and the door was locked behind him. Soon, a demon crept out from under the bed, pulled the kid in, and devoured him. Issa realized that the children were used as sacrifices, and they were never adopted. The nuns worshipped Lilith because they believed that by surrendering their lives to her, they would one day be transported to a world devoid of suffering.
What was Issa’s connection with the orphanage?
Issa had noticed Sister Marga bring an infant inside the orphanage, and she had come to realize that the orphanage was used to get rid of children who didn’t have any family. She decided it was time for her and Tomas to leave the place, but that very day, she was informed that Sister Marga had found a family willing to adopt Tomas. Issa informed the nun that she’d decided to leave. She lied about having found a temporary shelter. But Marga already knew that Issa didn’t have any place to go. She added that she knew a lot about Issa and handed her an old photograph. It was a photograph of Issa’s mother holding her daughter in her arms. As it turned out, she used to be a nun at the orphanage, and she belonged to the cult. Issa recognized the pendant her mother was wearing in the photograph; after her death, Issa’d always kept it close to her. Marga explained that Issa’s mother was her superior nun, and she abandoned her life at the orphanage because she grew sympathetic towards an infant. Issa was the little baby girl that Esther fell in love with, and she decided to leave the orphanage to raise her adopted child. Marga stated that, from the moment Issa entered their orphanage, she knew she had a greater purpose—she was meant to serve Lilith. She added that their cult was known as ‘Lilim,’ and they had dedicated their lives to Lilith.
Just when Marga asserted that Issa was not allowed to leave the premises of the orphanage, Issa struck her with a candle holder. She tried to hide, and she ended up in Mother Mirasol’s room. She noticed, what seemed to be, the skeletal remains of the nun carefully tucked underneath a bedsheet, and she was horrified when she noticed Prinsipe’s dismembered arm lying on the floor. Cops investigating her father’s murder case ended up at the orphanage. Issa tried to scream for help, but she was silenced. The cops refused to leave without talking to the children, and when they discovered that Tomas was living at the orphanage, the nuns attempted to kill the cops. They had been waiting for the right time to sacrifice Tomas, the youngest boy at the orphanage, to Lilith, and they were not going to let a couple of cops ruin their plan. They killed one and held the other captive, along with Issa.
Did Issa rescue Tomas?
The nuns prepared for the ritual, and they were ready to summon the spirit of Lilith. The cop was taken to Mother Mirasol’s room that had the door to the underground den where Lilith lived. Meanwhile, one of the nuns, Helena, told Issa to surrender herself to Lilith. She added that at first she was afraid when she’d learned that those who’d dedicated their lives to Lilith were bound for hell, but the more she surrendered herself to Lilith, the less she feared the fires of perdition. She hoped Issa too would show courage and accept her, but Issa resisted. The nun grew furious; she’d always known that Marga was wrong. Issa was not meant to be one among them because she was weak. She added that, unlike her, Tomas had something to offer to Lilith, and they would use his blood to mark their new beginning. Presumably, Lilith preferred the blood of young ‘pure’ boys, and it possibly made her more powerful. After the nun left, one of the orphan boys, Gabriel, came to Issa’s rescue. He freed her, and just when she was about to rescue her brother, Marga stopped her. She had a rifle in her hand, and she told Issa that she could not run away from her fate. She was destined to play an important role in the cult. Marga pointed the rifle at herself and pulled the trigger—she believed she had served her purpose, so she must die. The sound of the gunshot created chaos, and the cop pushed a nun into the dungeon, and he too fell into it. Tomas was also pushed into the chamber by the nuns, and when he opened his eyes, he saw skeletal remains on the floor. The cop and Tomas watched the demon devour the nun, but she remained calm. She was hopeful that, after enduring the pain, Lilith would deliver her to a place where there was no more suffering and agony. The cop asked Tomas to hide while he prepared to face Lilith. It can be assumed that the spirit of Lilith lived in Mother Mirasol’s body, and that was why the room was always locked and a fake body was kept under the sheet for appearances. Tomas watched the demon swallow the cop’s skull.
During Lilim’s ending, Issa entered the dungeon with a rifle in her hand. The nuns didn’t protest, as if they already knew that there was no escape for Issa. Issa asked Tomas to climb the ladder and leave, and he made it back into the room. The moment Issa turned her back and started climbing the ladder, Lilith attacked her. She scratched her leg, but Issa managed to kick her away. Issa successfully climbed out, and the minute Tomas noticed that Lilith too was trying to step out of the chamber, he pulled the trigger and shot her in the head. She collapsed and fell back into the dungeon. For a fraction of a second, Issa imagined her dead father’s face instead of Lilith—they were both monsters. Tomas, at times, regretted not being able to protect his sister, but in the end, he proved that he was ready to go to any extent to protect Issa.
What happened to Issa?
Just when Issa and Tomas were about to leave, Tomas requested Issa to go back and encourage the boys to leave with them. After all, they would be sacrificed one day or the other, and their fear was what was keeping them locked up there. Issa was reluctant at first, but she eventually agreed. She too felt terrible for the boys, and she thought of helping them. Tomas suddenly heard one of the boys scream, and he went upstairs to see what was going on. He was petrified to see Issa’s mouth dripping in blood. Her eyes had turned demonic, and she seemed to be surprised by her own power. The spirit of Lilith had entered Issa’s body, and instead of saving the boys, she was devouring them. The nuns knew that Issa had a purpose, and they were possibly glad that things went according to their plan. They handed Issa the infant they had recently welcomed to the orphanage, and she had a grin on her face. A dark image of Issa appeared on the painting of the orphanage, suggesting that she would forever be trapped within the walls of the orphanage. Tomas ran for his life; even if he found a way out of the woods, he would be extremely traumatized and scared. Tomas would have to reimagine his life without his sister, and that would be quite a challenge.
