The ties of family, the burden of guilt, and the power imbued into curses by those that believe in them, take centre stage in writer and director Joko Anwar’s Impetigore. The film screens at Sundance as part of the festival’s Midnight programming.
Maya (Tara Basro) and her best friend Dini (Marissa Anita) are in desperate need of money. Their new shop is failing, and life in the city is hard. After a brush with death reignites Maya’s desire to know more about her birth parents, she discovers that they may be sitting on a gold mine. Encouraged by Dini that there might be a large inheritance to collect, the two women set out to the remote village in which Maya lived when she was young. Upon arrival, the women discover that the village isn’t quite as Maya remembers, and things have taken a rather peculiar turn. What once was a vibrant and thriving place is now a husk of its former glory, and strangest of all, the place is completely barren of children. The villagers are all certain that they’ve been cursed. As the two women start to explore Maya’s history, they soon realise that she may have a part to play in breaking the curse. One that may cost her very life.
Impetigore starts with a bang. We join Maya and Dini on their job as toll road workers. The pair are happily gossiping via their phones and the audience immediately understands their dynamic, as well as circumstances, without too much in the way of clunky exposition. Then comes an attack on Maya’s booth as her regular ‘creepy guy’ arrives at her booth, machete in hand. A chase ensues, and though her attacker’s attempt is thwarted, the audience’s adrenaline is pumping. Were the rest of Impetigore to follow suit we’d have an exemplary genre film. Rather than stick with the breakneck pace though, director Joko Anwar changes pace and slows everything right down.
We rewind and get to know a little more about Maya before they embark on their pilgrimage. Once arrived at their destination, the film falls into an almost Wicker Man, Midsommar style, i.e the villagers are, for the most part, keeping quiet about their dark secret. We catch snippets of the truth here and there and Anwar soon points the blame onto Maya’s ancestors. The film raises questions about nature versus nurture, and whether a child can and should be held accountable for the sins of the father. What makes the debate all the more intriguing is that Maya herself knows very little about her lineage, meaning she’s being persecuted for something she knows absolutely nothing about.
Impetigore is a classic example of the modern-day ghost story. The narrative unfolds in a fairly standard procedural way – think along the lines of Ringu, Ju-on with Maya and Dini in the investigator roles. This familiar structure and story-telling does at times get a little tedious, but what Anwar lacks in originality, he makes up for in visual style. There’s a scene towards the finale featuring a dramatic re-enactment shot in front of a projector that really stands out. Anwar also has fun playing around with the camera, moving it in new and interesting ways. One instance involves the camera rotating both steadily forwards and into an inverted position that completely disorientates the viewer.
A story that we’ve seen and heard many times before, Impetigore offers some interesting ideas. However, after such an explosive and exhilarating opening, everything that follows is a little underwhelming.
Impetigore was reviewed at Sundance 2020.
