Barber's Tales

Marilou lives with her husband, Jose, a barber, in a rural village during the Marcos dictatorship. After Jose dies in his sleep, Marilou plans to leave for Manila until she is dissuaded by her friends and the parish priest, Father Arturo, who laments having to travel far to have his hair cut. Marilou, who had been taught by Jose on how to cut hair, gains her resolve to continue her husband's business and replace him as the village barber, starting with Father Arturo's hair. Marilou's reputation gradually spreads, and she is called into town to cut the hair of the corrupt Mayor Bartolome, where she becomes friends with his wife, Cecilia, who is constantly abused physically by her husband. One night, Marilou's godson Edmond and his injured companion Renan seek shelter at Marilou's house after being wounded in an encounter with soldiers, revealing themselves to be New People's Army rebels. A reluctant Marilou treats Renan and seeks out his sister, a prostitute named Rosa, upon his request. Grateful at seeing Renan again and at Marilou for helping him escape by cutting his hair, Rosa convinces her clients to have their hair cut at Marilou's barbershop. Marilou tries to convince Edmond to leave the guerrillas, but becomes sympathetic to their cause when soldiers kill Father Arturo after being falsely accused by Mayor Bartolome of being a rebel himself, which happens after the secluded Cecilia goes to him for confession. Renan is later killed in a botched ambush that leaves Edmond wounded, prompting the latter to seek help from Rosa, who clandestinely transports him to Marilou's shop. However, Edmond is seen by Marilou's customers the next day while escaping from a military raid, which leads to Marilou being accused of rebel membership and ostracized by the community. Days later, Cecilia asks Marilou to accompany her to a cliff above a river, where she confides her frustration at being unable to bear children and her impending separation from Bartolome, who has been unfaithful to her. After wishing that she had met a brave person like Marilou earlier in her life, she kisses her and jumps to her death from the cliff, to Marilou's shock. As the only witness to her death, Mayor Bartolome pressures Marilou to stay silent about the circumstances of Cecilia's death, which he passes off to the public as being caused by a rebel ambush. He asks Marilou to cut her hair for Cecilia's funeral ceremony, only for Marilou, fed up with his insensitivity towards his wife, to fatally slash him with a razor. Fleeing to her shop, Marilou cuts her hair short before going into hiding. Her friends help her escape town by cutting their hair short to confuse soldiers looking for her during a religious procession. In an epilogue, Marilou's friend Susan narrates that Marilou was never seen again after Mayor Bartolome's killing, with differing theories over her subsequent fate. Marilou is later shown joining the New People's Army, taking the nom de guerre "Luz" in honor of Cecilia's would-be child.