Impetigore

The director and screenwriter Joko Anwar had caught our attention with his previous film Red Storm (Gundala) (2019), which approached the theme of superheroes with real know-how and showed the confrontation between a mutant and supernatural forces. His new film completely changes the theme but remains deeply marked by his approach to current Indonesian society. Mixing thriller and horror film Impetigore was broadcasted in the United States on July 23rd on Shudder and is one of the films proposed out of competition at the Gerardmer Fantastic Film Festival.

From the opening scene at a road toll, the action is planted and Impetigore will take the audience to a remote corner of Indonesia where a curse hangs over the inhabitants of a small village. Maya (Tara Basro) and her best friend, Dini (Marissa Anita) are trying to survive in a town without family. After being assaulted at her workplace, she will return to the village of her ancestors with her friend Dimi and will find herself confronted with supernatural facts and being chased by a whole village. Impetigore's rather skillful script shows that Indonesian cinema has nothing to envy the current American cinema, so Impetigore proves to be a great surprise.

Far from being a flood of violence and blood as the horrific cinema likes to water us, Impetigore shows a real care to give a real psychological depth to its characters but also does not leave the spectators without answer (the long flashback scene explains the reason of this curse and the real origin of Maya). In the same way the horrific scenes are marked by successful and really disturbing visual effects. As the story goes on, Maya will plunge into horror and will have to arm herself with courage to face many traps.

Impetigore
Written and Directed by Joko Anwar
Produced by Shanty Harmayn, Tia Hasibuan, Aoura Lovenson Chandra, Ben Soebiakto
Starring Tara Basro, Marissa Anita, Christine Hakim, Asmara Abigail, Ario Bayu
Music by Bemby Gusti, Tony Merle, Aghi Narottama
Cinematography: Ical Tanjung
Edited by Dinda Amanda
Production company : Rapi FilmsBase EntertainmentCJ EntertainmentIvanhoe Pictures
Distributed by Shudder Originals
Release date: October 17, 2019 (Indonesia)
Running time: 107 minutes

Viewed on July 23, 2020

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