Impetigore (2019)

Director: Joko Anwar

Starring: Tara Basro, Ario Bayu, Marissa Anita, Asmara Abigail

A toll booth operator travels to her ancestral village in hopes of claiming an inheritance – until she discovers the unsettling truth about her past.

Story goes, a wealthy heir married the most beautiful woman in a village called Harjosari. After several years failing to conceive, the man made a pact with the Devil so his wife could become pregnant. When she finally did, the child, Rahayu, was born without skin. Soon after, three young children from the village disappeared. When the villagers saw Rahayu for the first time several years later, she looked the picture of health. However, when her father went mad and killed himself, a family servant took the girl to the city. Ever since, the village was cursed, and every baby is born without skin, and then killed. The only way to lift the curse, is to skin the first girl who started the curse, and to make puppets out of her skin. This is Rahayu.

The film starts with a man trying to kill Maya, who works at a tollbooth. He seems like a psychopath at first, but when he calls her Rahayu and exclaims “We don’t want what your family left behind”, we realize there’s more than meets the eye.

Maya and her best friend Dini decide to visit her parents’ village, where an inheritance is apparently waiting for her. We soon learn Maya is indeed Rahayu, and realize her life is in danger. They meet up with a man named Ki Saptadi, who might have the answers they are looking for, but Ki Saptadi has other intentions…

There are many creepy moments in the film and I really enjoyed the mystery element. With well crafted suspense, good performances, and a big twist, ‘Impetigore’ is well worth a watch.

‘Impetigore’ received 34 award nominations, wining 9 including Best Sound, Best Supporting Actress, Best Editing, Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction. It received nominations for Best Makeup, Best International Feature Film, Best Original Score, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best Visual Effects, among others.

In Indonesian.

Would I watch it again? Yes.