Ma Gleda C Oceña

EAFPP Activity

Miracle in Cell no. 7

(A Reaction Paper)

The movie “Miracle in Cell no. 7” is a story about a mentally-ill father and his cute and smart
daughter. The father, falsely accused and imprisoned of a crime he did not do, leaving behind a
clueless daughter who worries for him and wonders where he is. Will the father receive justice
and be free again? Would the father and daughter be reunited? Will a miracle really happen?

I may not fully understand and relate to him, but I do feel sad and frustrated that the father was
unable to defend himself of certain allegations of child kidnapping and sexual assault and explain
that what he was doing was an act of first aid. But alas, he was given a chance to explain his side,
but he butchered it after having to practice for a lot of time. The disappointment that the people
who helped him, and he himself, felt must’ve been unbearable. I couldn’t have imagined.

On the other hand, I also believe that the reaction he got from the media, the police, the public,
and the prisoners are valid. They only had one witness and from her point of view, it probably
did look like the father was hovering over the child as if to sexually use her. Having a mental
disorder does not excuse you of a crime that you have done, but in this case, he was not guilty of
these crime, making it more devastating to viewers.

I felt elated when the orphanage had coincidentally had a small presentation for the exact same
prison the child’s father was held in. I remember being so anxious when a cellmate of the father
had hid her and brought her to him. It was a really bad idea but I still felt thrilled knowing that
the father-daughter pair was finally going to be together again. The giddy feeling I had when
they starting exchanging hugs and kisses overpowered my concern of them getting caught. Until
they lost track of time and the child ends up getting left behind. I started to think they would get
caught but thankfully they didn’t.

The father had received the death sentence and on the execution day, he had to say goodbye to
his daughter and friends. It was a truly tragic scene. Hearing their cries and screams, my heart
broke. It is most tragic to us watchers since we know that he truthfully did not do the crime
charged to him. He did not deserve the death penalty because he did not do it, and I honestly felt
that the police did not do a proper investigation and that they shouldn’t have jumped into
conclusion just because a witness had said so. Even the prisoners had deduced what had actually
happened. If only they listen to him. And I also wished that they had sought out for a specialist
for the father seeing as that he had an apparent mental illness.

A sigh of relief, miracles do come true. Justice had been delivered. If her father could only see
what she had become, I certainly know that he would immensely be proud. The daughter became
a lawyer and cleared his name and made him innocent after so many years. She had met with her
father’s cellmate and all of them celebrate the justice of a wonderful friend, an honest person,
and a loving father. Miracle in Cell no 7…