Corruption
The underlying theme of the movie is corruption. The movie starts with the disappearance of a bus full of people. It turns out later that those people were going to Manila to report the mistreatment of workers on the local hacienda. The local police knows what happened as well and are keeping quiet. The people were mass executed to keep the silence of corruption. One of the main protagonists, Domingo, is in the midst of it as a young naive police officer who begins to realize the consequences of his meddling into it to discover the truth.
Parenthood
Diego is a father that wants the best for his daughter given the circumstances. It is clear that Diego is in the loop of what's going on, the danger that lurks not in ghosts, but in people. He wants Maya to learn how to protect herself, he warns her not to get close to the borders where the murdered people were buried and even dies at the end to give her a chance to live.
Coming of age
Maya is a teenage girl who dreams of a different life from her own. She daydreams about what it would be like to live in a big city and explores her surroundings despite her father's warnings. She starts to listen to her grandmother and take care of her appearance. It is shown that she gets her period, presumably for the first time, after her father is taken in by the police, and after she sees the apparition of a man in red in front of her home. Maya's life starts to take a complete turn from then on. Her dog is shot by the policemen, and she realizes that she's not safe at her home. The movie can be seen as Maya's shedding of her childhood innocence, with the loss of her dog, safety of her home, and even her father. Her decision to not kill Domingo at the end, despite them coming to kill both her and her father, shows her mature side and readiness to face the ugly truth of what lies beyond the borders.
