Huesera: The Bone Woman(2022)

Submitted by Evan B

Pooper:
Valeria realizes she has brought the curse upon herself by refusing to acknowledge her unhappiness. She ends up leaving Raul and their child to begin her life anew, finally accepting that she does not want to be a wife/mother.

Long Ending:
Valeria (Natalia Solián), a young married woman, finally becomes pregnant after many attempts. Although her husband Raúl (Alfonso Dosal) is thrilled, Valeria seems apprehensive. When the couple announce the news to Valeria’s family, they express either surprise that she wants to be a mom or amusement over her lack of a maternal instinct. Indeed, Valeria is awkward around her niece and nephew and often seems disgusted by children. Over lunch, her family regales Raúl with a tale of how a teenaged Valeria once dropped a young boy she was watching down the stairs while babysitting him, something she is clearly still deeply embarrassed by.

Valeria’s life begins changing quickly. Her doctor orders her to stop working as a carpenter while pregnant, noting that the chemicals and power tools pose a threat to the baby. Raúl refuses to have sex with her, worried that it might hurt the baby. More troubling, Valeria begins seeing things like large spiders crawling around her apartment. Things reach a head when Valeria seemingly witnesses a neighbor living across the street leap off his balcony to the street below. Despite the neighbor’s body splintering, it begins crawling towards Valeria, only to disappear when she screams for Raúl. Over the next weeks, Valeria continues to see individuals with no faces and broken limbs crawling towards her. Neither Raúl nor anyone else ever sees these phantoms.

While taking a bath, Valeria reflects on her teenage years. She was a rebellious teen with bleached blonde hair who often hung out at clubs playing punk music. She also was dating a girl named Octavia and was very happy. Feeling dismissed by Raúl , Valeria tracks down Octavia (Mayra Batalla) and the two rekindle their romance. While Valeria seems at peace whenever she is with Octavia, the rest of her life continues deteriorating. While babysitting her niece and nephew, Valeria sees the phantoms entering the house. She violently drags her relatives into a room to hide, injuring them both in the process. No signs of any intruders are ever found, and Valeria’s family insult her for hurting her niece and nephew. Later, Valeria witnesses one of the phantoms set the crib she built for her child on fire, but everyone blames her for the blaze. Raúl later discovers Valeria is having an affair with Octavia and considers trying to have her committed.

Valeria agrees to take anti-depressants and pretends to have regained her happiness. With Valeria seemingly recovered, Raúl goes on a work trip. Valeria goes to Octavia and says she wants to be with her. Octavia rejects Valeria, believing Valeria is only toying with her emotions. Valeria goes into labor after arguing with Octavia and gives birth to a daughter. However, Valeria cannot seem to bond with her child. One night, while Raúl is at work, Valeria ignores her daughter as she cries in her crib. Valeria is then seemingly possessed by a phantom and, while possessed, puts her baby in the refrigerator. Valeria soon regains her consciousness and rescues her child before any permanent damage is done.

Valeria then goes to her Aunt for help. Valeria’s Aunt is friendly with witches. and the Aunt arranges a meeting with them. The witches confirm that Valeria is cursed and that is why she is being haunted by phantoms. They agree to send Valeria into the spirit world where she can confront the phantoms. Valeria goes into the spirit world and is brutally attacked. Her bones are snapped and broken by a horde of faceless phantoms. As Valeria lies on the ground in pain, she is approached by a hooded figure – the person that cursed her. The figure removes its hood to reveal that it is Valeria. The hooded figure sets itself on fire before Valeria returns to the real world. Valeria finally realizes that her curse was caused by her own unhappiness. She accepts that she never really wanted to be a wife and mother. Although Valeria is now able to bond with her child, she realizes she does not want to raise it. The film ends as Valeria bids a tearful farewell to Raúl and her daughter, before moving out to begin her life anew.