Notable Cast: Abimana Aryasatya, Bront Palarae, Dimas Danang, Endy Arfian, Lukman Sardi, Mike Lucock, Yoga Pratama, Morgan Oey, Aming Sugandhi, Rio Dewanto, Tora Sudiro, Almanzo Konoralma, Kiki Narendra, Haydar Salishz, Arswendy Bening Swara
What makes Joko Anwar such a fascinating director is his dedication to pushing
himself into new artistic territory. He’s mostly known for his horror output,
sure, including the incredible Satan’s Slaves films and the opening
sequence of Impetigore, which might be one of the scariest things you
will ever watch, but he doesn’t stop there. Last year, Amazon supported him as
he went for pure action in The Siege at Thorn High; he pulled a comedy
with Joni’s Promise, and he even went for a more subtle romantic crime
drama in A Copy of My Mind. Anwar isn't afraid to push himself into new
territory, and I have mad respect for that.
His latest, Ghost in the Cell, has him taking his
horror chops and heaving them fully into comedic territory. With flashes of Sam
Raimi influences, particularly Evil Dead 2 or Army of Darkness era,
Anwar has written, directed, and edited a film that should absolutely create
some new pathways for fans to discover his films. Ghost in the Cell is
brutally violent, occasionally creepy, and wholly slapstick in how it
approaches its characters and their outlandish situation. The mix is certainly
energetic, popping in big moments, but it’s not nearly as finely tuned as one
might hope to deliver the gags, both comedic and gore-induced.
The film starts off in a traditional place, where a
journalist, played by Endy Arfian, is investigating corruption in Borneo and
stumbling into a series of mysterious murders that find his boss eviscerated.
Its opening, which feels like a classic setup for a supernatural ghost/killer
story, then careens into a prison drama where Anggorro, played with remarkable
flexibility by Abimana Aryasatya, is trying to keep his ‘gang’ alive against
other prison gangs. Of course, the supernatural entity follows the journalist,
now an inmate, and the body count starts to rise.
This synopsis makes Ghost in the Cell sound like one
of the year's most hard-hitting, Rated R-style horror films. To a certain
extent, it is. The film does not hesitate to deliver on its kill sequences,
where ghostly doppelgangers mutilate their victims and then create art pieces
out of their bloodsoaked corpses for all to see. The visceral brutality of the
deaths is shocking to some degree, particularly in how Anwar never shies away
from showing it in increasing detail as the film goes on, highlighted by
standout practical effects.
Yet the film also never lets the audience forget that these
horrific moments are over-the-top, not for sheer violence or gore, but to
underscore the outlandishness of its concept and the comedic beats of its
characters and narrative. For every one of its big, bombastic kills, there’s a
big, bombastic comedic beat that precedes or follows it. It’s wild.
However, calling Ghost in the Cell a horror comedy
doesn't quite capture the experience of watching it. This film goes EVERYWHERE.
Calling it tonally inconsistent might be unfair, but the film has no problem
throwing its audience, and its characters, into some of the most outlandish
sequences possible. Broad comedic characters appear at every turn, whether it's
the sheepish journalist, the disgusting, insane prison inmate who loves to lick
his entire fist, a religious man, or a dancer who tries to give the other
inmates release for their pent-up emotions. There’s plenty of slapstick comedy
to be had in smaller moments, particularly in some of the physicality of its
characters, and it results in some insane moments. There’s a big dance sequence
that seemingly knows it's going on too long, one of the funniest “sneaking into
the next wing of the prison” moments of our characters trying to not be seen by
the prison lights, and - in the highlight of the film - a fight between two
gang leaders that manages to be a martial arts duel, comedic pratfall set piece
complete with cartoon sound effects, and a one-sided dance-off.
Granted, not all of the comedy works, and its slapstick
silliness will not be for everyone. It relies on some basic prison jokes that
don’t always land, including a shower sequence that will either work for some
viewers or completely eject them from the movie, but it's admirable that Anwar
goes for it even when it seems absolutely nonsensical in the world he’s
building. The biggest miss, though, is that Ghost in the Cell tries to
slip in social commentary that feels counterintuitive to what the rest of the
film is doing. The source of the entity and its resolution rarely feels as
provocative as it could, and the comedy never quite accounts for how much more
it could have mined for laughs. The one big laugh it got out of me was how it
dismisses the prison guards' corruption with one line of statistics at the end.
Beyond that, much of its commentary, beyond its genre jokes, gets lost in the
shuffle.
Still, while I found Ghost in the Cell to be one of
Joko Anwar’s lesser efforts overall, its uneven tone and genre-mixing make it
worth watching for the audacity of what it aims for. The gore is top-notch, and
Abimana Aryasatya ably anchors the film with his own acting prowess, making
many of the tonal shifts work in the moment while a few comedic moments hit
gold and brought tears to my eyes. The whole might not be as punchy as Anwar's
previous films, but his dedication to exploring new areas still warrants
praise, and Ghost in the Cell showcases new sides of him as a filmmaker
worth watching.
No comments:
Post a Comment