Stories of a Living Ghost: The Commentary of Oda sa Wala on Job Recognition
- lightningszenith
- Mar 25
- 5 min read
By: Michael Mayo
Introduction
Written and directed by Dwein Ruedas Baltazar, Oda sa Wala (2018) is a drama film depicting the desolate experience of funeral and mortuary workers. The film revolves around the perspective of Sonya (Marietta Subong), an embalmer struggling to keep her family-owned funeral parlor operating. Through her bleak routine and a bizarre encounter with an unclaimed corpse, the film explores themes of alienation and discrimination among workers in the funeral industry.
Through a sociological approach, the film’s story and technical elements can be analyzed to explore the influence of discrimination and economic hardships on the burden and perceived value of professions in Philippine society. By illustrating how undertakers are undervalued in a socially burdened working environment, the film highlights the broader societal experience of underappreciation among professionals in the Philippines.
Body
The film opens with Sonya lying down on her bed. Her life appears stagnant as she frequently spends her time
staring into space. Besides arranging funerals, her existence outside work within her community is seemingly dismissed (Ramones, 2018). The familiar sense of estrangement becomes a central characteristic of Sonya’s narrative, emphasizing the social invisibility that morticians experience, despite constituting an essential role in handling death.
Upon receiving an unclaimed female body, revelations regarding Sonya’s past are unveiled, with her relationship
with the corpse becoming the story’s focus. While embalming the body, she unfurls her thoughts, lamenting about the disdain she experiences due to her odor of rotting flesh. Her introspective thoughts add to her lonely perspective, symbolizing the stigma surrounding death and her occupation.
Sonya eventually finds comfort in the corpse, brushing its hair and dressing it up, and her business coincidentally
thrives. However, as the cadaver decays, her business declines, and her debt collector, Theodor (Dido de la Paz), threatens to usurp the parlor. With the body’s decay indicating the unfortunate series of events, Sonya grows agitated and distressed, her behavioral development becoming a literal representation of the toll of both the emotional burden and economic hardship in her line of work as the proprietress of a funeral parlor. From themes of alienation to emotional tension, the film builds a cohesive portrayal of the lived experiences of workers in the funeral industry.
Critical Analysis
Through a sociological examination of Sonya’s story, Oda sa Wala provides introspection into the struggles
confronted by funeral and mortuary workers in the Philippines. The film critiques the contribution of invisibility and discrimination to the harrowing condition of the funeral industry by illustrating the social burden of handling death and contrasting the value placed on funeral traditions to those working behind the rites of passage after death. Although morbid, the film’s unique plot structure represents the need to redefine traditional perspectives on the funeral industry and recognize the role of undertakers in managing death.
Through the consistent use of a single set design and desaturated hues, the film thoroughly captures the
themes of isolation and invisibility in the reality of funeral workers. The majority of the scenes are filmed within the doorframes and windows of the seemingly decrepit and traditional funeral home, underscoring the role of Sonya’s occupation as an embalmer in the feelings of restriction and social dejection within her community (Halfyard, 2019). The film’s authenticity is further enhanced by the square aspect ratio, depicting the loss of space and imitating the perspective of peering into a coffin (Mateo, 2020). Subdued color grading is utilized throughout the film, creating a subtly dreadful atmosphere, and representing the psychologically straining burden of Sonya’s work.
While the sparse dialogue between characters combined with slow pacing allows the film to gradually unfold
the immersive narrative and build a sense of unease, the deliberate technique of minimalist storytelling limits character depth and visual engagement, potentially causing confusion and loss of interest in some viewers. A detailed story behind the characters’ pasts could have allowed the deeper exploration of their complexity, enhancing the understanding of each character’s motivations and the clarity of emotional stakes, further emphasizing the intricacy of their struggles.
By addressing the social invisibility that undertakers face in the Philippines, the film extends its focus to broader
societal issues concerning the lack of compensation and value of professions in the Philippines, in which those who perform significant work are underappreciated. According to Lu (2025), while the majority of Filipinos are employed, many work jobs that offer insufficient wages to cover the cost of living. Despite earning less than what they’re worth, most find themselves settling for meager salaries to make ends meet. According to Foundit (2023), 48% of Filipinos across various professions admit to being underpaid and underappreciated, resulting in demoralization. The disconnect between income and jobs is attributed to several factors, including location and cultural expectations. By focusing on the particular case of undertakers, Baltazar sheds light on the collective dismissal of professions. The portrayal of the reality of funeral directors, morticians, and embalmers within a larger social context in which their professions face judgment and social stigma, emphasizes the need to recognize the contribution and significance of workers across various fields.
Conclusion
Dwein Baltazar’s Oda sa Wala offers a glimpse into the experience of funeral workers and explores how their lack
of representation and documentation leads to underappreciation. The film provides a necessary commentary on under-compensated and undervalued professions in the Philippines by exemplifying the reality of undertakers and how they are viewed in society.
The film uses a dark set design and muted colors to show themes of isolation and invisibility experienced by
funeral workers. While minimal dialogue and long scenes may confuse and disinterest viewers, the film enables contemplation on the individual aspects of the experiences of the underappreciated. Oda sa Wala urges the visibility of funeral workers’ experiences, the change of cultural perceptions regarding death, and the proper recognition and compensation for professions in the Philippines.
REFERENCES LIST
Daza, N. (2019, April 30). Oda sa Wala: Finding humanity in the macabre.
Foundit. (2023, July 27). 4 reasons why Filipinos are career dissatisfied.
Halfyard, K. (2019, July 18). Fantasia Review 2019: Ode to Nothing tells a curious ghost story of death and minimalism. ScreenAnarchy.
Joey. (2019, October 23). Oda sa Wala (Film): Don’t bide your time; make your fortune. A Book Bore in Timbuktu.
Mateo, C. P. (2020, July 8). Oda sa Wala: Pagyakap sa kadiliman at kawalan. SALA-SALABID.
Philippine News Agency. (n.d.). Poverty, employment in PH – unpacking the contradiction.
Ramones, A. D. (2018, November 6). ‘Oda sa Wala’: The morbid fragrance of emptiness. Reverse Delay.
Sorrento, M. (2022, May 14). Beautiful decay: Dwein Ruedas Baltazar’s Ode to Nothing. FilmInt.nu.
Suarez, L. (2023, August 31). Oda sa Wala: Confronting the unknown. The Flame.
Kommentare