Primbon: An Exploration of Beliefs–Movie Review
Director: Rudy Soedjarwo
Writer: Lele Laila (Screenplay)
Cast
- Happy Salma (Before, Now & Then)
- Nugie (The Dreamer)
- Flavio Zaviera
- Chicco Kurniawan (13 Bombs)
- Azela Putri (You and Me)
Plot: Amidst a mountain climbing trip, Rana goes missing, but miraculously returns home, causing a conflict between her mother’s belief in her survival and the superstitious extended family.
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Primbon starts when a young woman Rana (Zaviera) goes missing on a mountain climbing trip. The whole village goes in search of her without locating her, until she turns up back home unexpectedly. However, something is different about Rana.
The village is torn between religious reasons for her return and a more natural one. However, the members of the village start getting visited by an unknown evil and the battle between the two sides starts tearing the closest families apart.
Verdict on Primbon
Primbon is a horror drama following a village struggling with the uncertainty behind a missing woman’s return. It sees them dealing with religious beliefs covered in an evil presence which could have a lasting effect on them.
This is the latest Indonesian horror movie that uses the beliefs to show evil in a village. It has some uncomfortable sequences which don’t fit into a PG-rated movie. Outside of that, it uses the concept that people might have different beliefs and that would cause tension in an otherwise peaceful village. This is a lot different to many horrors from the same area, despite using the same subject matter. The restricted nature behind everything adds a human element to the world we are walking into. We get strong performances that add to the overall mystery we experience here.
Where to Watch
JustWatch
Final Thoughts –Primbon is an unsettling, creepy and uncomfortable horror movie.
