Rating: 3/5
Hoop-Tober | 20/31 | Countries 5/5 | Indonesia
Hanif brings his wife, Nadya, and their three kids to visit Hanif’s former caretaker from the orphanage where he grew up. On the road, Hanif hits something with his car. He thinks it’s a deer but doesn’t see the girl he hit lying in a trench.
At the orphanage, Hanif meets up with his childhood friends and the current caretakers. The orphanage is empty except for two older children, Hasbi and Rani. The other kids are on a field trip. Hanif’s youngest, Haqi, finds a locked door. Rani explains that the door hasn’t been opened in 20 years and that behind it is the body of Ms. Mirah, a former caretaker who practiced black magic.
When emptying the car, Hanif finds blood and a bit of human hair where he thought he hit the deer. He and his friends go where the accident happened and find the girl. They also discover the bus of children on a field trip. All the kids are dead, too.
What’s going on? Is this the revenge of Ms. Mirah? Whatever it is, Hanif and his friends know more than they’re letting on.
Similar to A Thousand Days, another film from director Kimo Stamboel, this movie has a slow build and lore that teaches you as it goes. But once the movie gets going, it keeps up the energy and offers some fucked up moments.
The film has some killer set pieces. There’s a scene with a stapler that will probably stay with me.
The closing credits show screenshots from the original movie, which this is based on. I’d love to see it if only to see how they do the bug effects. In this movie, they’re all CGI, which is a bummer. However, I don’t want to see folks eating actual bugs.
My biggest complaint is the plotting and how everything fits together, especially in the third act. It’s nothing egregious, but so much happens off-screen that it’s hard to understand how people are where they are.
I enjoyed the movie, but besides some set pieces, I don’t think it will stay with me.