Pesadillas y ensoñaciones de Joko Anwar

I'm a South Korean and this was my first Indonesian show and it literally blew my mind. Amazing!! This unique show deals with social issues in the form of horror and science fiction with mind-blowing twists and amazing visual effects and acting. It reminded me of Black Mirror, but in a very unique way.

The images delicately show the reality (both bright and dark) of Indonesian society. I could feel as if I am in Jakarta and I could deeply relate with the social issues of the country.

It deals with such a variety of issues like poverty, domestic violence, ableism, ageism, child abuse, and etc, in the form of horror and science fiction. This way, the story gives you so much emotional impact that you just cannot stop watching it.

I watched the show overnight and finished all of the episodes in a day. I could not even sleep. Amazing work. I don't think I can get over from this show for a while...

As an Indonesian, I'm surprised we actually got this kind of quality.

I haven't watched a lot of Indonesian movie lately (or ever actually) because I really can't get into them. Usually the acting is really bad and the dialogues are cringe as well. The production is also usually pretty bad and low budget...

And so, I was surprised how delightful this series was. The production was definitely a step up from usual. Hell, the cgi was actually pretty good too and wow, the story is not bad at all.

It is far from perfect, like some episodes are stronger than the other (for me personally I like ep 3 the most, then 2), and there were some wtf moments that are not that great and dragged out (and don't get me started on the last episode and that girl who only has 1 emotion and can barely act...)

But overall, it was a pleasant watch. I love the horror stories and the Lovecraftian vibe. I won't mind having another s2 but will need some tighter story and scenes.

I dont usually leave review for a series but I feel I have to for this one.

This is a departure from the highly polished western series. It has unique dingy aesthetics that is special to Indonesian movies like the raid or satan's slave that is distinct from high budget productions. The dialogue maybe awkward at times but the story and idea is superb and the acting is decent.

The dub quality is excellent and you can see that each episodes is produced with passion. There is some aspect that western audience might not be able to relate to because its uniquely Indonesian but give it a whirl, it wont disappoint you.

Not saying I'm completely disappointed, well maybe a bit, but I just to imagine it were that based on what I expected and speculated from the trailer and not some kind of interconnected stories with the climax at the final episode, it would have been more interesting to me. I have no problem with the CGI, for a non-hollywood production series it's kinda okay, though I agree it can be improved for the later seasons. Like all Joko Anwar's projects, it brought his seemingly untamable bias of some rigid acting and dialogue in some parts by some of the actors. Scoring is fine and the plots are as usual: slightly better in concept than execution. But without Joko, who would be so brave and competent enough to pull this off in Indonesia? All in all, I'm satisfied and not feeling a little bit of regret spending my time finishing this series off in one go

7.5/10.

The story is nothing original. Joko Anwar created this story, from an existing plot: Silence of the Lamb, Kimi no Nawa, Saw, Love, Death and Robot: Jibaro. Episodes one to 6, can be enjoyed. Until it was finally ruined by episode 7. Where this film became an ordinary superhero film. Episode 7 also has the worst plot and the worst acting quality. No longer special. I think Joko Anwar is an overrated director. His fans also said that his bad films were good. Joko Anwar should be able to develop more original stories, not trapped by global trends. He should know that the superhero genre is starting to be abandoned. Changing this series from the horror, mystery, sci-fi genre to the superhero genre is a bad choice. Moreover, this series feels very rushed to finish.