The Big Flick: The Curse of the Weeping Woman

Banshee, pontianak or La Llorona – the tale of malevolent female spirit known as the weeping woman is omnipresent in every culture. In Mexico and Latino diaspora, La Llorona (pronounced as la yorona or la jorona) is a legendary figure that has survived the test of time.

Though her origin dates back to Hernan Cortes’ conquest of Mexico in 16th century, a popular version of the legend has it that La Llorona was a beautiful mestiza (woman of European and indigenous Mexican ancestry) who was either married to or cohabited with a Spanish nobleman. 

Together with their two children, they lived a blissful life. But their happiness was short lived – her spouse left and married a Spanish noblewoman. Heartbroken, the jilted mestiza took her children to the river and drown them. When she thought ending her miserable life would pave way to a beautiful start, she was wrong. She was denied entry into heaven and was condemned to roam the earth forever, searching for her missing children.

Come 18 April, film producer James Wan and director Michael Chaves will bring the legendary figure to live on the silver screen through Chaves’s directorial debut, The Curse of the Weeping Woman.

Starring former supermodel Patricia Velasquez, Linda Cardellini and Raymond Cruz, the feature film, which is based on “The Maiden”, an award-winning short film, will bring forth the icon of horror through the perspective of Mexican/Latin American diaspora and rich Hispanic culture in Los Angeles. 

“When I first came to America, one of the first stories that people would come up and tell me was the legend of La Llorona,” says producer James Wan.  “People see my movies and guess that I love ghost stories – and they’re right – but La Llorona is so much more.  It hits you at the deepest levels of horror and touches on fears you didn’t even know you had.  You understand why it’s such an integral part of people’s lives growing up.  I just became fixated on this story.  I thought, ‘What an amazing, scary figure to bring to the big screen.’”

To create a phenomenal impact that will leave a lasting impression in the minds of the audience, Chaves and his team turned to the community for source of inspiration. Speaking to the older generation who grew up listening to the horrifying legend, furthermore, what fascinates him is how the story was told – it is never told in the same way twice.

“The more people we talked to, the more nuances and variations we heard, but there was a real sense of wonder and terror in every telling,"says Chaves on the film's creative and developmental process.  "I came away with an enormous appreciation for their openness in taking me into this story, and really wanted to honour that in making this film."

For Venezuelan beauty Patricia Velasquez, who is also the world's first Latina supermodel, La Llorona was part and parcel of her childhood while growing up in Mexico and Venezuela. She also admits that she still fear the mystical creature, believing that it will not stop until it gets what it wants.

“In our film, La Llorona comes in three days and three nights,” says Velasquez, who takes on her namesake role.  “Every night gets a little harder…and this is Patricia’s last night.”

Set in Los Angeles circa 1973, the film revolves around Anna Tate Garcia (played by Linda Cardellini), a social worker and a single mother of two was struggling to cope with her roles as a parent and the sole breadwinner to the family.

Always a sceptic, her perception towards the unseen changes when she is called to the home of Patricia Alvarez (Patricia Velasquez), where her two young sons were locked in a closet. While Anna perceived Patricia’s action as a sign of abuse and determined to get Patricia the help she needs, unbeknownst to her, a mystifying occurrence is about to be unleashed.

As night falls upon the City of Angels, a vengeful lamenting spirit - the La Llorona - straddles through the corridors of the children’s shelter where Patricia’s kids are temporarily housed. 

Their dead bodies are found in the river and distraught Patricia blames Anna for her children’s untimely demise. In deep grief, she warns Anna that La Llorona is coming for her children. Just as Patricia foretold, La Llorona starts to hunt for children in Los Angeles at night and Anna’s offspring is at risk.

Desperate to keep her children safe from the evil La Llorona, Anna turns to Rafael Olivera (Raymond Cruz), a former priest turned curandero (Mexican native healer) who has prepared himself for the battle all his life. 

Together, Anna, Rafael and her children arm themselves for the onslaught when the night falls and it irks the spirit who then unleashes a full force of furious supernatural wrath.

Will Anna and Rafael’s collaboration save her children’s fate from the deathly hands of the weeping woman? Catch James Wan’s The Curse of the Weeping Woman for the ultimate answer, opening in cinemas near you on 18 April 2019.

*Photos courtesy of New Line Cinema/Warner Bros.