Director Joko Anwar does it again. After reading some reviews of his latest film being too pretentious and ambitious, I was afraid that he had lost his touch.
In my opinion, this is not the case. Sure, the film clearly has a message, although if you have seen his previous films, he actually is critical of certain aspects of religion. He, himself, is a practising Muslim who does seem to have a strong opinion of Islam, at least, that is how I have interpreted it. He is not condemning it, but he does let some of the characters ask some questions that might go against the people who blindly defend their religion. In some scenes he is subtle about it and in others it's pretty obvious what he was going for. In any case, the end result is an interesting and compelling take on conventional horror where the majority of the characters are riddled with contradictions on life and death. Especially the latter.
Our main character, Sita, has suffered an enormous loss due to terrorist attack. Since this was done in the name of Allah, Sita has real problems with accepting the usual excuses given for why this has happened. I think anybody would. Especially, if she finds out that a prominent benefactor is abusing children (boys) but is getting away with it since he is being honoured by the religious leaders due to his contributions. His misdeeds are deliberately ignored, since in general he does good. Sita doesn't waste any second to save her brother from the abuse he is subjected to. When she and her brother flee, she is determined to put a stop to this kind of evil.
It's here where the film slowly descends into madness of the highest order. Almost surreal. I can understand that some people might think that Anwar is being too abstract and symbolic. But if you pay attention, there is a perfectly understandable answer for the events. It's in these parts where the horror goodness gets prominence. It does briefly lose focus, only to be corrected by giving Sita and the viewer some karmic justice. From start to finish, I was completely invested in the events, especially since both Sita and Adil deserved sympathy. Although, Adil squanders a lot of goodwill due to being too soft and weak.
Overall, a must-watch horror title!
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