Aurora (2018)

I recently watched Aurora (2018) and wrote a random thought post. I want to expand my thoughts here formally. Aside from its premise of a crashed ship haunting the horizon, it is interesting that Netflix picked this film for their catalog as with Bird Shot (2016) which is a good sign that Philippine cinema is getting better. In the Philippines, I am seeing less romantic comedies and more intimate romance and social commentary films focusing on cinematography and character which is a good sign.

Although this film has won awards, I find the film lacking polish in its CGI, cinematography and meaning. However, I saw a two ideas in its story that could be better explored that could make it a better film. For this article, I expect you to have seen the film, so I won't be writing a story summary like I usually do, so I can focus on those points instead.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Issues

This is an optional section to briefly mention some issues or nitpicks I had with the film that hopefully the ideas can cover.

Opening Shot

The opening shot of the sea to the house seems to be a lost opportunity. It might be trying to raise suspense or setup mood but it doesn't do much sadly.

Ship

When I saw the crashed ship in the distance, I was hooked with the possibility of a haunting memory or tragedy that should never be forgotten. I was expecting a mystery/investigation of the ship and human error led to its tragedy. That tragedies, for all of its miseries, teach us collectively to be wiser and more acute to human consequences. The problem lies in the ship disappearing in the end conflicts with that. By disappearing, it could mean we have forgiven or forgeten the tragedy which is worse even if it a quasi-closure to the story. They didn't have to equate the ship with any imagery or symbolism but it is a missed opportunity.

Ghost Giant

Regarding the ship's demise, the film used ghosts as an explanation. The ship crashed not because it was mainly overloading passengers that a giant ghost manipulated the captain to crash the ship instead. Physics aside, I was disappointed they used this as the driving cause. The cause is not of human error but of paranormal in nature which cannot be held responsible for the ship's malpractice. Of course, the giant's aggression was raised because he was made a sideshow by the passengers themselves which is still a human cause but not a strong one.

Character and Motivation

For our protagonist, staying to keep the place afloat by finding dead bodies is hard to understand without context or development. Being duty-bound to a promise or commitment does not explain anything either. Even if she succeeds in keeping the place alive, the place is considered haunted or dangerous making it nearly impossible to sustain. To say plainly, I don't think the protagonist is characterized properly or her motivation clearly justified.

Ending Scene

After the ship disappears near the end, the protagonisth meet a group of people and the coast guard, she then mentions the coast guard's search did not include various areas in the ship alluding to a coverup. Not only is this rushed, it is a cliche to quickly wrap the story quickly without buildup or momentum.

Overloading

The first point relates to a practice tolerated in the Philippines. In the Philippines, Jeepneys are a public mini bus-like transportation which came from a surplus of jeeps at the end of World War 2. Since the Philippines is a third world country and with rising international gas prices, overloading jeepneys to maximize value is culturally accepted although discouraged practice. Although not a strong social issue, it has caused issue and concern about safety at scale. Airplanes cannot overload their planes as a standard since a crash or malpractice causes a costly scandal for everyone. If overloading was the root issue why the ship crashed, it might have been more believable and might have raised awareness.

Imagine this scenario: the ship is packed with passengers that crew and personel are understaffed and unable to monitor and handle events or accidents. During a stormy night, all passengers are moved inside for shelter and ship becomes cramp and hot as more come in. The crew is pestered with requests from parents to ease their family from the heat and noise. Eventually something happens, the ship's unbalanced weight caused of the motors to snap past the breaking point causing a fire or tilting the ship even further. People try to respond but the halls are packed and blocked. One led to the other, generators lose capacity, steering fails, lights go dark, dread and panic settle in, people scrambling for comfort. This all too much even for the captain that they fail to realize and prevent their imminent crash amidst the storm. Then a massive thud.

The scenario or cause is not exact since the ship contingencies might address them. The idea is that when a ship is overloading and an accident occurs, the crew could not effectively handle it otherwise. To maximize profit at the cost of safety, a good theme for a film. If we do that, we can put a scene where our protagonist is riding an overloaded jeepney that breaks down and creates a road block to hint at it.

To further link the tragedy to the families, we use the ghost's connection. Instead of a survivor from the ship, we can have the ghosts reveal the story inside the ship and their families. Imagine one more scenario: during another stormy night, our protagonist wakes to a tapping at her door. Behind it is a ghastly child leading her down the living room where other are waiting and chanting "Tulungan mo kami. (Help us.)". Our protagonist cries in exhaustion "Paano? (How?)". With the chanting getting louder, the ghosts circle around her with their hands reaching out to her slowly covering her and the screen. The next scenes show her inside the ship before the calamity like flashbacks and visions. Within that scene, she is shown where several family members live. Since this is the time before the internet or social media, she finds each of the concerned relatives such as grandparents or relatives to tell them what really happened. Another investigation is raised that shows many of the concerned passengers are not in the manifest that makes it into national television bringing the incident to public awareness.

With that scenario near the ending, we can remove the awkward ending of people suddenly appearing for the exposition dump. Of course, this scenario might be optimistic or unrealistic and might not change any regulation in the film's world but if done well might discourage people from taking the overloaded option when offered. Nonetheless, this address the cause which I had a problem and focuses more on the human angle.

Leaving

The other point can be considered a continuation of the previous point but can standalone. When the protagonist visited town and learned businesses are closing down, it reminded me of Night in the Woods where the town's economic concerns tied with the protagonist's personal conflict. Minor thematic spoiler, the protagonist was trying to hold on to a past of a dying town and chooses to remain there till the end. We can focus on the theme of leaving things behind. Afterwards, we can explore and show the significance family business but declining or dying persuading them to sell or leave the place after the ghost business.

Another key idea I found interesting to explore is that the sea outside the home has become a graveyard since the coast guard could not find the rest of them. Sea of the dead, a graveyard outside. Imagine this scenario: during the film, corpses eventually wash onshore. The protagonist team is first disgusted but bury the body later and cash a guilty check. Another is found, again and again, making it emotionally and morally harder each time. The beach is slowly buried in stone. Eventually causing the ghosts to seek help from our protagonist tying the flashback scenario in the ship.

It might fit the theme of waiting much better than searching and finding one or none. By waiting instead, the scene where the protagonist rethinks her action when they start looting the ship's trash can be removed in favor of letting the ghosts slowly reveal themselves to her while having the option for that horror aesthetic. Likewise, discovering the overloading issue comes from the ghosts themselves and confirmed by the friend afterwards is more natural than an information dump from her friend. Lastly, profitting from the dead to keep the business afloat is a cause similar to the ship and by leaving it behind is to hope for a better environment and freedom from the compromises made. When they do decide to leave and the talk to the families, the ship can slowly sink in the distance or be scrapped over time than simply vanishing overnight.

To make the motivation stronger, we make a passenger a relative of the house such as a grandparent or brother to reconsider the selling or leaving out of respect or memories. If we make the house represent trauma such as memories of isolation, longing, depression or the like, it can add more pressure to let go and move on while developing the character. Also, a fragment of trauma still remains even after moving on from it; like with history, the ship may no longer cover the horizon but its story of tragedy will remain. Making the ship and the house represent an external and internal conflict might make for a better character arc for our protagonist.

Closing Thoughts

Those two ideas together, Leaving and Overloading, have a great thematic potential if focused or developed. A cautionary story of personal and financial greed and of letting go with a taste of mystery and horror. Nonetheless, as long as the Philippine cinema finds more variety and taste, the industry is moving on as well.