THE REAL HORROR MOVIE: ADULTING

Scrolling through Shopee while pretending to be productive seems harmless until a random click leads to a Rec•Create episode where Jessica Soho reacts to Reddit horror stories about adulting. Halfway through, it hits: this is the real horror genre. No ghosts. Just bills, rent, and commuting chaos.

Growing up, horror meant aswangs, white ladies, and whatever creature cousins invented during brownouts. No one warned that the real monsters would be groceries, rent, and the responsibilities that arrive faster than payday.

A post about rising food prices reads like a punchline until the receipt shows up. Eggs suddenly cost as much as self-esteem. A post about rent doubling makes everyone do mental math and reconsider life choices. Commuting stories? Every morning is a Hunger Games reboot, minus cameras, plus sweat, elbow jabs, and the subtle panic of arriving late anyway.

The line that resonates most: “Adulting feels like a survival game.” No tutorials. No save points. Just waking up, paying bills, and hoping to make it through the week without accidentally crying in the middle of the MRT.

Bills arrive like clingy exes, electricity checks in weekly, water only shows up when it feels like it, and WiFi—kahit hindi mo gusto—demands attention first. Inflation runs marathons while salaries stroll. Even payday loses its magic when everything is still more expensive than expected.

But in the middle of all this, the Reddit posts remind everyone of the small victories: surviving a month without utang, cooking at home for thirty days, saving enough for a tiny staycation. These aren’t flashy Instagram milestones. They are proof that surviving adulthood isn’t about perfection. It’s about the little wins that quietly matter.

Watching the reactions on the video shows how shared struggle can feel comforting. It reminds everyone that nobody is failing alone. The truth is, nobody has it all figured out. Rent, bills, groceries, careers, relationships, mental health—all collide at the same time, habang tumatakbo, humahabol, nagtitipid, nag-aadjust, at minsan umiiyak sa CR ng trabaho.

Adulthood was never meant to look like a flawless coming-of-age montage. Its messiness makes the tiny victories meaningful. Cooking at home becomes heroism. Making it through a week without panicking becomes a flex. Laughing at problems that should’ve been overwhelming becomes a survival skill.

Adulting is the real horror movie. But here’s the twist: despite the bills multiplying like gremlins, the commute feeling like a boss fight, salaries refusing to grow, and dreams postponed indefinitely—people are still here.

Pushing.
Laughing.
Trying again tomorrow.

Maybe that makes young Filipinos the unexpected heroes of a messy, chaotic, budget-stretched story. Not the kind with capes. The kind with eyebags, GCash deficits, delayed meals, and humor sharp enough to keep going.

In a country where everything feels expensive and exhausting, simply existing is already rebellious. Getting up every day is already brave. Trying again is already enough.

So here we are; surviving, laughing through the pain, finding comfort in strangers’ Reddit posts and Jessica Soho’s reactions. And if that isn’t resilience, it’s hard to know what is, but it’s being claimed anyway.