Perewangan (Indonesia, 2024)

Having seen some great Indonesian films over the past few years, I was keen to explore more this month. The success of Joko Anwar has led to more Indonesian horror reaching international audiences, and I assume this must be a boom time for their industry. There were a number of new films on various streaming platforms, and I picked Perewangan solely because it had the highest IMDB rating.

I was a bit less enthusiastic when I read that Perewangan is based on a Twitter thread. It’s jarring to see a social media handle as a screenwriting credit. The original poster claimed to recount a true story rooted in Javanese beliefs, which seems like pretty standard horror marketing to me. Then again, You Might Be the Killer was based on a Twitter thread and I enjoyed the hell out of that.

Perewangan is streaming on Shudder in the UK.

Synopsis

Maya’s family has it rough. Her father has spent years in a psychiatric hospital and her mother is possessed by the kind of demon that thinks the Exorcist crab walk is still trendy. A lot of this dates back to her grandfather being a black magician whose power was rooted in pureeing birds. Oh, and there’s an unbreakable cursed mirror in her mother’s bedroom that’s somehow connected to all this.

Things only get worse after Maya’s father kills himself. Her mother comes out of a long vegetative state, but she’s still not quite herself. That would probably be the demon. Her family get involved, more to see if they can sell her house and split the profits, but then they start dropping dead. Demon again.

So, of course, Maya is going to have to deal this demon. And maybe do something about that cursed mirror. Those things are more trouble than they’re worth.

General Thoughts

As I mentioned in my review of Grafted, I feel guilty about giving poor reviews to films that aren’t actually that bad. Perewangan is definitely one of those cases. The truth is that it’s a perfectly average horror film. It’s well-made, with some nasty special effects and a few striking scenes.

The problem is that I’ve been watching horror films for over fifty years now. After thousands of films, it takes a lot for one to stand out. That’s why I’ll usually take a rough-but-imaginative independent production over something polished but more conventional. Even the worst trash might show me something original, and that’s what will stick in my brain. This isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate skilled filmmaking — quite the opposite — but there is usually less desire to take risks when budgets are higher. It’s safer to give the audience what they expect.

This is why I don’t especially like the more successful horror franchises of recent decades, such as The Conjuring, Insidious, or Paranormal Activity. It’s not that I’m a hipster or a contrarian — although I may struggle to defend myself against those accusations — only that these films rarely offer anything I haven’t seen before. My reaction will be a very different one than that of someone who only watches a couple of horror films a year.

Ultimately, a lot of viewers will probably have fun with Perewangan. It’s great that there are films that cater to a more casual audience and not just jaded fans. I just wish I could still enjoy them.

Verdict

Every big moment in Perewangan is terribly predictable, and nothing about the execution is imaginative enough to mitigate this. The pacing is acceptable, and there are some gruesome moments, but I still found myself counting down the minutes until it would end.

The tone doesn’t help. Perewangan is completely humourless and largely lacking any kind of emotional hook. It feels like it’s working through a checklist of set pieces rather than creating a gripping narrative. Some of these set pieces are terrific, but we can see them coming, and then breeze past them as soon as they’re over. There is no real build-up or release of tension, only an awful flatness. All this makes it hard to care about the characters or what happens to them.

Perewangan might be fun to watch with friends who are relatively new to the genre and aren’t looking for anything too original. More jaded horror fans may find themselves growing as impatient as I did. If you want to watch a film about a cursed mirror this Halloween, you might be better off with Oculus.

The October Horror Movie Challenge

Please do join in and share your own thoughts with us about this or any other films as the month goes on. You can usually find us on BlueSky, Reddit, Discord, or lurking in the dark corners of your home.

If you would like to play along at home, my provisional selections are:

Heretic (USA, 2024)
The Sadness (Taiwan, 2021)
The Uninvited (USA, 1944)
The Lodge (UK/USA, 2019)
WolfCop (Canada, 2014)
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czechoslovakia, 1970)
The Monkey (USA, 2025)
Sister Midnight (India/UK, 2024)
Roadgames (Australia, 1981)
Nightmare City (Italy, 1985)
Dangerous Animals (Australia, 2025)
Dead Talents Society (Taiwan, 2024)
Winterbeast (USA, 1992)
Byzantium (UK/Ireland, 2013)
The Ugly Stepsister (Norway, 2025)
A Page of Madness (Japan, 1926)
Heart Eyes (USA, 2025)
Grafted (New Zealand, 2024)
Arrebato (Spain, 1979)
Hatching (Finland, 2022)
Abigail (USA, 2024)
Ganja & Hess (USA, 1973)
The Devil’s Bath (Austria, 2025)
Pieces (Spain, 1982)
Infested (France, 2023)
Best Wishes to All (Japan, 2022)
A Cat in the Brain (Italy, 1990)
Enys Men (UK, 2022)
Creature From the Black Lagoon (USA, 1954)
Perewangan (Indonesia, 2024)
Bring Her Back (Australia, 2025)

A Final Note

If you have been enticed here by these posts, please do look around at some of our other film reviews. We also have a podcast, called The Good Friends of Jackson Elias, which occasionally covers horror films. If this appeals, you might want to check out some of the following episodes.