Despite a history reaching back to the 1980s, Indonesian horror has long been overdue its flowers. But over the last few years, the success of films like Joko Anwar's Satan's Slaves and Timo Tjahjanto's May the Devil Take You prove that Indonesian frights are a force to be reckoned with. Following its North American premiere at New York Asian Film Festival, director Sidharta Tata's supernatural spook-fest Respati will certainly be a worthy addition on many ‘Best of Indonesian Horror' lists.
Reeling from the untimely and traumatic death of both his parents, high-schooler Respati (Devano Danendra) finds himself suffering from a number of somnolescent stresses, an severe insomnia and horrific dreams become the least of his worries as he realises he is able to enter other people's nightmares. Teaming up with his best friend Tirta (Mikha Hernan) and mysterious new classmate Wulan (Keisya Levronka), Respati is determined to discover the cause of his powers, leading him on a journey peppered with themes of revenge and religious prejudice.
However, despite dabbling in admirably socially conscious themes (specifically relating to Indonesian culture and folklore as a whole), there's not a huge amount of thematic meat to chew on in Respati. Many set pieces, especially the dream sequences, are outstandingly realized and boast Respati's high production value; grisly, surreal and unsettling all at once. But beyond the surface-level sheen, it's hard to sink into Respati on a deeper level. This is in part due to the repetitiveness of the scares (you'll see the jumpscares coming a mile off), and an exposition-heavy mid-movie slump that really makes you feel every minute of Respati's stretched two-hour runtime.
Respati excels when it does pick up the pace, leaning unapologetically into its over-the-top moments and pushing them to 11 every single time. There's little room for earned acceleration here, sure, but these moments are undeniably enjoyable, especially for those who like their horror with the overdramatic flair of Sam Raimi or James Wan. This, combined with the spooky central mystery, teen team-ups and heartwarming focus on working together against the forces of evil make Respati an excellent gateway horror for older children, in the same vein as Stranger Things or It.
For those who prefer their scares more subtle, Respati's climactic progression into soap-opera-meets-superhero insanity will undoubtedly leave them frustrated, but there's an emotional core at the heart of the film from the three young leads that makes these moments undeniably charming, and certainly proves Tata is a director who wears his heart on his sleeve.
Respati played on Friday, July 19 at the New York Asian Film Festival.
