Review: Pengabdi Setan (2017)

Not a Perfect Film, but a Breakthrough Nonetheless

by Kurnia Cahya Putra

Pengabdi Setan (2017)

Directed by Joko Anwar

Starring Tara Basro, Bront Palarae, Andy Elfian

Rapi Films & CJ Entertainment

Much like Carpenter’s The Thing, Cronenberg’s The Fly, and Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Joko Anwar’s Pengabdi Setan (Eng: Satan’s Slaves) is a remake that successfully surpasses the original in more ways than one. Anwar took the premise, which is that of a mother coming back from the dead to haunt her family, and molded it into something of his own that is richer, scarier, and surprisingly funnier.

Mawarni is the aforementioned mother in this version. She has been ill for almost three years, and her condition forces the oldest daughter, Rini, to quit school, the oldest son, Tony, to sell his bike, and the entire family including her husband and two younger sons, Bondi and Ian, to move out into the grandmother’s house near the cemetery. Already, Anwar provided us with strong background for these characters that would not only draw the audience into this world, but also cover the little holes that the original has left opened. One chilling night, however, the mother finally dies of her illness, and from then on, there is nothing but dread for the family as ghostly apparitions keep coming and people around them start dropping like flies.

Other than tightening the plot, Anwar has built a very intriguing myth around his characters. He dropped hints after hints along the way, with some big enough to guide us through the story, while others so subtle, they were like prizes for those with keen eyes and a knack for observation. He structured the plot very nicely at first that the audience couldn’t help but get involved, and the movie would’ve been spotless if it weren’t for the 3rd act.

I had no problem until the part where they save Ian from those black-umbrella-wearing, synchronized-seeds-scattering cult people. I thought everything was going extremely well up to that point, but the part right after it just rubbed me the wrong way. It was very strange for me to see the family acting that giddy and goofy after that huge of an event. I mean, Ian, one of their own, has just experienced attempted kidnapping in all sorts of ways: the ghost of the grandmother pulled him into the well, the cult people surrounded their house to pick him up, not to mention there was some kind of "supernatural" storm that not only tried to take him away, but also trashed their house big time. It just seems that Anwar missed a little logic there.

Moreover, I personally felt that the climax is a little messy. One of the things that I love the most about filmmaking is editing, and I always feel totally at home when I’m sewing the footage that my crew and I have shot into one cohesive whole. I’m not saying that I know better than the professionals who have worked in this movie, but through the eyes of myself--as an editor, I strongly believe that the part where the zombies attack the family could've been tighter. It was obviously meant to be chaotic, but that was the context of the story, not the representation. Information after information are also piled up in a short amount of time around this part, and the previously slow but steady and engaging pace is a little broken up because of this. Finally, Anwar also employed the use of deus ex machina in the form of Pak Budiman coming in to save the day, which I am not a big fan of, and as the cherry on top, he also fell into the old my-car-won’t-start-in-this-life-or-death-situation. Well, these last two complaints are probably nitpicking on my part.

Fortunately, everything picks up again in the epilogue, which is, by far, my favorite part of the movie. I’ve been in love with Asmara Abigail ever since her amazing turn in Anwar’s previous short film, Jenny, and I was in cloud nine when they announced her to be Darminah. I was definitely waiting for her to come out, and when she finally did appear, it just couldn’t be more perfect. The girl has such gracefulness and class to her, and her eyes just pierce you right into your soul that I couldn’t imagine a better femme fatale. She and Fachri Albar have the perfect look for their roles that they elevated this already well-done movie if that’s even possible. The thing is, Pengabdi Setan is arguably Anwar’s most accessible film, maybe even more so than Janji Joni, which is probably why these two are his most successful works. However, I’ve come to love his style and individuality from his other movies like Modus Anomali, Dead Time: Kala, and Pintu Terlarang. There is this sort of edginess, this unconventionality, that makes a Joko Anwar film a Joko Anwar film. Almost kind of like the way you’d immediately recognize a Kubrick movie or a Fincher movie from a few shots. I was looking for that in this, and I was a little worried that I wouldn’t find them, but this epilogue brought it. You’d have to see it to understand what I’m saying.

Technical-wise, I haven’t seen a better looking, better scored, and better sound-designed studio movie from Indonesia. Anwar brought Ican Tanjung back from A Copy of My Mind, and it was a wisely smart move as the man is a chameleon and is able to transform his style for any movie. I love the raw quality that his camera produced in A Copy of My Mind. The constant-moving image that seemed to follow Tara Basro’s Sari all the time as she strolls around the busy streets of Jakarta and completely engulfed the viewers into her story. Here, he also drew us in, but in a completely different style. The visual that he produced is cleaner, richer, smoother, and more atmospheric. Moreover, those slow zooms really brought us back into the 80s (the decade this movie is set in), much like what Ti West did in The House of the Devil. The art design really helped as well, starting from Rini’s floral dress, all the way to the use of old logos for certain brands. Well, maybe they just missed the mark a little with the hairstyling. 

Speaking of acting, the entire cast brought their A-game in this. Some of the dialogue can be stilted (I found this to be Anwar’s weakness), but they did the best they could. I’ve never really been particularly enthusiastic regarding Tara Basro’s line delivery, but she always delivered in her expression and commitment. Andy Elfian was totally fresh and brought a lot of charm as Tony even though I believe he could do better in his dramatic scenes, and Muhammad Adhiyat was the clear stand out as Ian. All in all, the cast had great dynamic with one another.

In the end, Anwar’s Pengabdi Setan is a breakthrough for the horror industry in Indonesia. It might not be perfect, but what movie is? After its huge success, what I hope for the other filmmakers to take away from this is not that it is successful because it’s a remake because that’s stupid, but rather it is successful because it’s clear from the start that the makers have put a lot of their heart and soul into this. 8/10 (could've actually been a 9).