Directed by Dyan Sunu Prastowo, this Indonesian horror film stars Sitha Marino, Fergie Brittany, Luna Shabrina, Cindy Nirmala, Rania Putrisari, Yusuf Mahardika, Rafael Adwel, Dewa Dayana, Arswendy Bening Swara, Mike Lucock, Tegar Satrya, Messi Gusti and others. With a runtime of 98 minutes, the movie is written by Budhita Arini, Ervina Isleyen, Dyan Sunu Prastowo and Raditya and produced by Ervina Isleyen.
Tantri joins a new dorminatory which is being haunted by a demon who makes the students disappear. With a mysterious connection to her past, she must save herself and her friends from a horrible fate that threatens to destroy everything.
Watching Mantra Surugana is like watching the same horrible song and dance routine over and over again. Although the movie starts off promising with a creepy death and all, it soon goes down the mysterious doors closing and shadows in the hallway path, putting forth nothing of substance to the table. The movie’s horror elements, however, come from very different avenues, and although the ghosts make no impression whatsoever, it’s the personal lives of these kids that really get under your skin.
The movie rushes through some horrible things, and the dark and dreary atmosphere aids in the creepiness of the movie. Although devoid of any true terrors, the movie does a good job of creating a mystery thanks to its cinematography and looks great in the process. The demon also looks great, and the practical effects are done extremely well and never look over the top or stupid.
That being said, the movie is absolutely flat, and there are hardly any moments that will make you sit up and take notes. There are no thrills in the movie, and the convenient way in which problems are solved feels rather simple and ineffective. The movie is about taking revenge for the injustices one goes through and focuses heavily on sexual abuse. The characters aren’t memorable, and even though the people are given a reason for their behaviour, it feels forced because the cause and effect seem too drastic to be believable.
Towards the end of the runtime, when things hit the fan, it becomes funny, and you can’t sit there and take anything seriously. Of course, there wasn’t much to take seriously even before that but in the last 40 minutes is when the movie just gives up trying and only relies on the odd shock factor to make us squirm. It’s a horrible use of people’s traumas that is not only unnecessary but also extremely triggering and rather insulting. The fact that movies use such horrible trauma to sell horror just feels cheap and disgusting.
Now, I realise that the message here is the horror of sexual abuse and that anger and heartbreak can push people to do horrible things as retaliation. But, my god, the way they go about showing this is downright cruel and abrasive. Plus, it isn’t able to showcase these messages well, and most of its plotlines are either too rushed or left in the middle. It results in a movie that feels unfinished and odd, and these horrible sequences, thus, feel forced in order to get a reaction out of people.
Mantra Surugana Review: Conclusion
This horror movie hardly has anything to scare you, and other than the rather horrible imagery, there’s not much that invokes a sense of thrill. It’s a run-of-the-mill movie that provides several jumpscares and none of the psychological shocks that it’d want, making it a rather dull and convenient movie that you are unable to take seriously.
The movie is streaming on Netflix.
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