Ruth Marini – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: I thought that this one was only going to be a demon’s bride.

Vampire Bat: They have particularly spoken about the Devil. So, it would be like that only.

Vampire Owl: Well, the Devil has no authority here in our castle.

Vampire Bat: None in our realm either, but he enjoys his stay in the human world.

Vampire Owl: There are always homes made for him in their world.

Vampire Bat: It would still strange that humans choose to be evil when there is the perfect chance for being good.

Vampire Owl: Humans have always been the big fools from Eden.

Vampire Bat: I would say that the garden of Eden is more accessible to vampires than humans these days, considering the collective actions of a species.

Vampire Owl: Well, the Devil is smarter than we would think.

Vampire Bat: The shadow demons who have crossed over to our realm says the same.

[Gets a paneer biryani and three cups of Munnar tea].

What is the movie about? :: Echa (Erika Carlina), a young woman has been happily married to Ariel (Emir Mahira) after falling in love with him. In the beginning, their married life is full of love, as they work hard to make a living, but soon, the busy world catches upon them, as Ariel working as a security guard and Echa as a logistics worker just do not find enough time to be together with each other while trying earn enough. They begin to fight regularly, and without anything to talk to each other, Echa begins experiencing strange supernatural disturbances. Echa starts feeling a new life coming to her in the dreams with a handsome young man taking her to a beautiful home in the countryside. Soon, it is revealed that a djinn had fallen in love with her and wanted her to become his bride. The obsession leads to him having sexual intercourse with her in dreams, as she falls into his spell and agrees to the sexual intimacy, even though she feels that it was only done in recurring dreams like a sexual fantasy which is not close to reality.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It seems that djinn wishes to have her forever, and Echa also seems to be pregnant by three months, much to the dismay of Ariel who remembers that they never really had even an intimate moment in the last few months. She begins to vomit blood and despite a local woman telling them that Echa is pregnant, the doctors do not find such a possibility with her. Ariel has visions of babies looking like the djinn which keeps him further tensed about their future. Echa keeps feeling that there is something inside her, and wonders if it is the result of having the sexual intercourse with the djinn in the dream. But others do not know about this situation, but it is at the same time that one of her friends who let her know about an exorcist also gets killed. She understands that the djinn will not stop until it gets her, and decides to take the matter into her hands. But is it already too late for her to act, with he djinn already part of her daily dreams?

The defence of The Devil’s Bride :: The movie thrives on the tense, dark atmosphere with the evil always present. The demonic presence which is often called the djinn is established very nicely in the beginning of the movie itself. It never loses its way as far as the abiding terror is concerned. There is some good divergence in how the usual idea is used, and a certain amount Indonesian cultural side can also be seen as active here. The supernatural scenes and makeup effects are nice, providing the Nosferatu or Dracula effect also with the demonic love, but maintains a certain style due to the locations. For the Indian audience, the movie will not feel too far away from them considering the way the whole situations have been dealt with. The secondary world of nightmares is constructed well too, despite us having seen before with a different kind of treatment, from Insidious onwards. From the visit to Bali itself, I have found myself interested in Indonesian movies, and this one actually serves more nostalgia as it never really gets out of the usual out there.

The claws of flaw :: Sometimes, one feels that the movie just goes on through a path which has been established in its usual manner for a long time, and it has been taken from the Western ideas about the demonic birth to be used here. We are familiar with the movies dealing with son of the devil being born and the idea of the anti-Christ, and this would often feel like taken right out there, especially with the same being a classic supernatural idea. There is also a certain number of repetitions without bringing anything new, and the protagonist often feels a little too dumb with her actions despite things being so clear for even people who are not that aware of the cultural beliefs. The supporting characters are not that much explored, and they just seem to come and go at will. The romance is also not that much felt, and there for using the love to fight the devil feels out of the equation. The ending also seems to be done in comfortable way without that much of thinking, and innovation when it was needed, never really gets here. Then, there is the loss of pace in between despite the movie being of short-length.

The performers of the soul :: Erika Carlina leads the way in this movie which revolves around her character as the bride of the djinn, seemingly willing for the same within her nightmares, but attempts to come out of the same when back to her senses. With this strong and convincing performance, she effectively portrays the fear, vulnerability and emotional struggle that she has to go through in more than one world. Her expressions and reactions in the emotional, terrifying and intimate scenes help build the movie’s mood with is not limited to the eerie atmosphere, making the whole situation more believable. Even with the traditional horror tropes rising above the rest, Erika’s solid performance makes sure that the different elements and multiple sides work so well here, as she also covers some of the faults of the movie. Emir Mahira is also not far behind in his work, as he plays the loving husband without any trouble. Ruth Marini and Wavi Zihan provides some good support too, while Alfie Alfandi adds on.

How it finishes :: The Indonesian horror movies have often stayed a step ahead like with the near-perfect Impetigore, interesting Ivanna, revenge-seeking Ronggeng Kematian and that almost-horror Grave Torture which also tried well. After the travel to Bali of Indonesia, these have served my love for horror well, along with Gundala being a favourite superhero movie from the same country. While Korean movies have remained the most watched foreign language movies here with Spanish, French and Russian having quite some space in the website, Indonesian ones have been the South East Asian favourites. This one serves the purpose well, but one has to wonder if it could have been better with such an idea at the core – you do not get to work with such creatures of the night all the time, and the premise was so well set with the first scene itself. Well, still it remains a good scary one with the mood and the setting doing the job well too. You can think watch this one on a fine night and have the demonic one have its say.

Release date: 16th January 2025
Running time: 91 minutes
Directed by: Azhar Kinoi Lubis
Starring: Erika Carlina, Emir Mahira, Ruth Marini, Wavi Zihan, Alfie Alfandy, Ence Bagus

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl: I remember taking the photocopy of the Vampire Deed of Blood.

Vampire Bat: It is originally called the Nocturnal Crimson Deed.

Vampire Owl: That reminds me of the movie, Nocturnal Animals.

Vampire Bat: Do you remember the other Indonesian movies we had watched?

Vampire Owl: Yes, two of them – Impetigore and Gundala.

Vampire Bat: They were some very interesting flicks with a divergence.

Vampire Owl: Yes, one horror film and a superhero flick.

Vampire Bat: It took us some time to watch another Indonesian movie.

Vampire Owl: Well, we can’t watch them all, right?

Vampire Bat: We never get to watch enough of them after the arrival of corona virus and the following warning.

[Gets a blueberry cake and three cups of Wayanad tea].

What is the movie about? :: Suryani (Shenina Syawalita Cinnamon) is a college student who is also part of the theatre group at the campus, named Mata Hari. After the performance, she returns home to a very strict father and a mother who is always working, far away from the city. At home, she finds out that their performance called Medusa et Perseus in the Student Theatre Festical was accepted for the Asian Student Festival in Kyoto, Japan; her father asks her to focus on her studies. There is a party at the house of their leader Rama Soemarno (Giulio Parengkuan) to celebrate the triumph, but her father does warn her against it, especially related to consuming alcohol and wearing revealing dress. Another girl, a senior named Farah (Lutesha) also asks her not to go to the party, and advices her to instead focus on getting the scholarship that she had always wanted. She feels that Farah is saying so because he was kicked out of the theatre group. The group also finds the suitable sponsors for their flight tickets to Japan.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The party feels more wild than she had expected, and forgetting what her father had told her, she decides to have the alcohol, even though not without difficulty in drinking it for the first time. She also forgets the earlier decision to leave the party before it gets too late, as she enjoys a lot under the influence of the alcoholic drinks. In the morning, she wakes up very late, and arrives for the scholarship interview on the next day just in time. But she is embarrassed in front of the interviewers who had checked her social media, which had her pictures of drinking alcohol and enjoying the party. Even though she has good scores and attendance, they reiterate to her that drinking alcohol and attending late night parties are not Indonesian culture; they are looking forward to give scholarships to students who set good examples and not those who could go on to become nuisance for the society in the future. They also added that instead of doing work within her department which was Computer Science, she was wasting time with theatre. She had also attended the interview in party wear, and has to walk out of the room humiliated.

And what more is there for the girl in trouble right now? :: The teacher asks her to join the class only after paying her fees, which she can only do with the scholarship. Back at home, she comes to know that her parents had received the message that her scholarship was terminated due to inappropriate conduct. Her father throws her out of the house for breaking the religious laws by drinking alcohol, and tells her that everybody knows about it now, as some guy was carrying her back home, knocking on each door on the way to know her residence. That had caused a big mess in the neighbourhood as it was three in the morning, causing humiliation to the whole family. He asks her to leave and spend time in repentence. The leading performer of the theatre, Anggun (Dea Panendra), the party host Rama (Giulio Parengkuan) and the group leader Tariq (Jerome Kurnia), are all ready to help her, but nobody knows what exactly happened in the drunken state and who uploaded those pictures of her being drunk at the party. Now, she has to find it out herself, can she?

The defence of Photocopier a.k.a. Penyalin Cahaya :: Photocopier nicely goes through the adventure from the beginning to end, keeping us curious, and as a part of the whole mystery that is happening around here. Shenina Syawalita Cinnamon nicely goes through the role of the desperate student hoping to prove to everyone that she didn’t do what she was accused of doing, also desperate to get her scholarship back. The feeling of a curious as well as a sad and depressed girl is always there. Lutesha plays the next person to be of interest here, and her role is also worked out with quality. Dea Panendra as Anggun and Jerome Kurnia as Tariq remain strong parts of the work too. Ruth Marini and Lukman Sardi who plays the protagonist’s father are strong with the emotional side. There is no questioning the movie’s emotional strength as much as its strong elements of mystery, which seems to be almost impossible to solve, unless passed on as hallucinations or with a high dose of luck added here and there. Giulio Parengkuan and Chicco Kurniawan also have their moments.

Positives and negatives :: This is one of those movies which could have actually gone darker with its contents – instead it chooses the safe path. It still has its dark side hiding in plain sight, but strong enough. There seems to be a certain amount of hesitation in taking the risks with this film too. The movie has its fine setting in different parts of Indonesia, and this is a tale which could be put in the worlds of a few other nations too. With a few red herrings, it makes one feel that the innocents and the culprits and vice versa, while also making one wonder if there is actually any mystery about all of these or if it is already in the head. In a movie which feels close enough to reality, you won’t expect this many twists and turns, but there are many, and most of the characters here are not really what they seem. The movie talks about privacy in a world of mobile, CCTV and hidden cameras as well as the factors working on physical and mental health. The movie ponders on life, friendships, trust and betrayal at the same time. Still, there is the question about the uploading of the photos in social media that remains – the film seems to be too abstract about that.

How it finishes :: This is the third Indonesian movie that I am watching, and there was a certain interest in watching such a movie during our earlier trip to Bali too. This is that kind of a movie which doesn’t want us to skip forward even if it is not that quick – we do feel the need to be part of it. The negative effects of social media and lack of safety during night parties are the two things that this movie adds along with the interesting investigation that goes on here with the thrills and twists. It is also a reminder that people and things around are not the same as what we think they are. The movie reminds us that nobody is safe, and not everything that you hear from the most trusted people are true. Well, we know that those who are too rich and influential always gets away unless facing someone of a similar or higher status – in the case of celebrities, we have seen how people get away with everything. Well, not with Photocopier, as it does have the power of many. As it follows a realistic route, there is no stopping it from being something we can connect at points.

Release date: 8th October 2021 (Indonesia); 13th January 2022 (Netflix)
Running time: 131 minutes
Directed by: Wregas Bhanuteja
Starring: Shenina Syawalita Cinnamon, Lutesha, Chicco Kurniawan, Dea Panendra, Jerome Kurnia, Giulio Parengkuan, Lukman Sardi, Ruth Marini, Mian Tiara, Yayan Ruhian, Landung Simatupang, Rukman Rosadi