IR HE Review: GHOST IN THE CELL [Well Go USA]
Having recently played Fantastic Fest, Joko Anwar’s "Ghost In The Cell", like many of the director's other films, is uneven but yet its own beast in many ways. Anwar likes to mix the grotesque with heart and a bit of spiritualism. The film begins with a reporter at a newspaper in Jakarta who had returned from the jungles of Borneo where there had been a series of murders committed in horrific ways that seem unnatural. We never see this aspect (or those killings) as that would have incurred a big budget but it is only a prelude to bring the action to a prison where inmates from dealers to political prisoners whittle away their days trying to stay alive. There is a big bad drug dealer who is both insane and a sexual predator that is at the top of the foo chain. Anwar has a way of making the grotesque bombastic and a little insane. Over the years, his storytelling sense has become much clearer though the tone and certain humor sometimes skirts the edge of good taste but that can also be cultural. That said, his sense of body horror which keys almost to an Andrew Kevin Walker style level (see "Se7en" and "8mm") serves him well here though we never quite get what the demon haunting this reporter is. There is one inmate who can see auras around people which translates into who the demon will kill next. As in any prison movie, when they are not battling external forces, the inmates are battling themselves or each other which makes sense.
Abimana Aryasatya as Agorro is the standout because of him calm demeanor but also leading man context. Like Andrew Koji, he has an edge that permeates through some of the uneven material. One of the ideas in the movie that eventually comes to bear is that the demon cannot inhabit and kill those with happy, silly or pure thoughts. It is only when doubt and anger filter in that trouble begins. One fight sequence towards the end is done like this and does work quite well. But with about three or four of the demon killings, it happens when the characters themselves have self doubt or rage. When that happens, their deaths become a living Goethe painting (and some of that effects work is pretty good). Eventually it leads back to the real culprit which is a corporate prisoner who has a cushy suite in a different cell block. His greed in nickel mining in the jungle in Borneo is what supposedly unearthed the demon. Through some social media contrivance towards the end of the film, the prisoners are able to funnel the demon to its true target (and again this story element refers to a certain climate in Indonesia so there is a bit of social commentary as well). It all comes out better in the end but the little comic bits seems a little out of place. An example is a keystone kops like silent film sequences when the prisoners are sneaking through the boneyard trying to avoid being hit by sniper fire. They freeze in a pose as the light passes by them as they are led by a rogue guard. It is cinematic but it is out of a different film. “Ghost In The Cell”, like some of Anwar’s other work, has some dark and light elements blended with a sense of the grotesque. While not for everyone, it does show a consistency of work and representation of the Indonesian film industry through a very specific brand of horror. 74%/C+
By Tim Wassberg
