Pagpag: Siyam na Buhay

Pagpag: Siyam na Buhay

Year: 2013

Runtime: 105 mins

Language: Tagalog

Director: Frasco Mortiz

Horror

A group of teenagers find themselves haunted by an evil spirit after ignoring a traditional Filipino superstition. The film explores the belief that one should avoid going straight home after visiting a wake, as it’s thought to invite vengeful spirits or the deceased into your house. They must confront the supernatural threat and find a way to break the curse before it’s too late.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline – Pagpag: Siyam na Buhay (2013)

Trace every key event in Pagpag: Siyam na Buhay (2013) with our detailed, chronological timeline. Perfect for unpacking nonlinear stories, spotting hidden connections, and understanding how each scene builds toward the film’s climax. Whether you're revisiting or decoding for the first time, this timeline gives you the full picture.

1

Arrival at the wake and rule-breaking

The group arrives at Roman and Lucy’s wake, where the local undertaker crew gathers and superstition looms thick. Each member breaks unspoken rules: Hannah weeps on the coffin, Rico wipes it with a handkerchief, Justin pockets bread, Ashley stares into a mirror, Cedric bears a new wound, Dencio pockets money, and they neglect pagpag. The atmosphere hints at a malevolent force ready to take hold.

At the wake Wake site of Roman and Lucy
2

Apparitions and Emmanuel’s backstory

Back at home, Mac-Mac experiences apparitions and sketches nine figures with an eight-like mark. Marcelo is killed by a malevolent force while sweeping outside, heightening fear. Dencio blames Leni for misfortune and reveals Roman’s pact with the Devil to resurrect Emmanuel, which demanded nine victims.

Night after the wake Mac-Mac's home and neighborhood
3

The ritual aftermath and the firestorm

After the grim ritual, a firestorm nearly destroys the barrio as villagers try to burn Roman’s house. In the chaos, Roman dies and Emmanuel vanishes from the coffin. The community reels from the supernatural spillover and fear tightens its grip.

Following the ritual The barrio around Roman’s house
4

Hannah’s dread spirals into tragedy

Hannah’s fear intensifies into a plan of self-destruction as a shadowy figure closes in. A horrifying apparition gouges her eyes and dumps her into a pool, and Cedric arrives too late to stop it, leaving him to bear the blame. The death starkly demonstrates the haunting’s reach.

Following the wake incident Hannah’s surroundings
5

Rico’s brutal end by the freed spirit

The haunting grows more violent as the spirit escapes Rico’s handkerchief and hurls him against a shower wall. The family and friends are forced to confront that the danger is no longer passive. This death marks a turning point in their awareness of the curse.

Shortly after the wake Rico’s home
6

Burning the wake clothes to break the curse

Cedric urges Justin and Ashley to burn the clothes they wore at the wake, hoping to sever the ties with the haunting. The act signals a conscious effort to fight back, even as the danger remains imminent. The plan foreshadows the deeper ritual needed to end the nightmare.

After the wake Cedric’s home
7

On the road to Lucy’s house, a market rescue

Cedric decides to return to Lucy’s house to confront Eva, and on the way he saves Leni from a Roman-ghost pursuit in a market. They join forces because they share the goal of breaking the curse binding them all. Their alliance marks a pivotal shift in the group's dynamic.

While traveling to Lucy’s house Market, en route to Lucy’s house
8

The empty coffin and blood-drawn warnings

The search leads them to Roman’s empty coffin, with walls bearing three blood-drawn figures that underscore the supernatural danger. The discovery confirms that the haunting operates with a planned, ritualistic logic. The trio realizes the stakes are higher than they imagined.

During the investigation Roman’s coffin site
9

Mac-Mac revealed as Emmanuel in the church

Leni seeks Mac-Mac in a church, where Dencio and Eva arrive to warn them. They reveal that Mac-Mac is Emmanuel, the son their parents tried to protect during the fire, tying the boy to the curse and to the family’s past.

Investigation in the church Church
10

Eva’s warning and the old house revelation

Eva informs Cedric and Leni that Roman’s body lies in their old house. In the church, Mac-Mac becomes trapped, and Eva is pulled into a tomb and killed, escalating the danger and heightening the sense that the living are being hunted by the past.

Midpoint Old house / Church tomb area
11

Ashley and Justin meet their fates

Ashley takes photos at home and uncovers a chilling image bearing Roman’s face; she is dragged into a mirror and crushed by a falling chandelier. Justin witnesses her death and is fatally crushed between two passing trucks, sealing the breakdown of their group’s safety.

Shortly after Eva’s death Home
12

Dencio’s peril in the church rescue

Dencio tries to rescue Mac-Mac in the church but is trapped in his car as the vengeful spirit torments him. The windows fail and shards of glass pierce his neck, sealing his grim end as the haunting tightens its grip on the living.

During the rescue attempt Church
13

Mac-Mac escapes and warns of imminent danger

Mac-Mac escapes and is warned by the spirits of Roman’s victims that Cedric and Leni are in imminent danger. He follows the ghost toward the old house to offer help, becoming a crucial link between the living and the lingering dead.

Shortly after the church incident Church grounds toward the old house
14

Final confrontation at the old house

Cedric and Leni confront Lucy at the old house. They reveal Emmanuel to Lucy, provoking Roman to attack; Lucy intervenes and is impaled by a girder as Roman reappears furious. Lucy’s fate exposes the pact’s cost while Emmanuel’s survival keeps the threat alive. Cedric finally stabs Roman, ending the immediate danger.

Final confrontation Old house
15

Epilogue: hospital shadows and lingering ghosts

Cedric visits Leni and Mac-Mac in the hospital, where the lingering visages of Lucy and Roman smile from beyond. The haunting leaves a quiet, unsettling impression as the living contemplate the truth of what happened. The final image lingers in the hospital corridor, suggesting the pact’s costs endure.

After the confrontation Hospital corridor

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:48

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