Ritual

This tale begins with a man waking up in a shallow grave with amnesia. Not knowing exactly what to do, he begins to wander aimlessly through this remote Indonesian forest, eventually finding a cabin with a car parked outside. Inside he's horrified to find the cabin empty except for the bloody corpse of what he believes to be his wife as he discovers a wedding ring on his finger. Then, after watching a video of a faceless attacker killing her, he ventures back into the forest, scared & confused, with only a lantern to guide his way. The atmosphere in the first thirty minutes was creepy & unpredictable as the viewer watches and waits to get a handle on what exactly is going on in the film.

As more information is introduced, the level of suspense does come down a little and at times I found myself scratching my head a bit. Certain things happen that seem at the time a bit absurd, but if you stay patient and continue into the final act, there is a nice twist on things that IMO made it a very original worthwhile watch. Some camera work was a bit shaky, but for the budget the production value was just fine for the duration of the film. The acting wasn't a problem, there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue for it even to become an issue. It is an English speaking film despite it's locality & ethnicity of the cast. In all, it wasn't a highly suspenseful thriller or a gory horror flick, although it did contain some elements of each. If horror fans are looking for something different than the same old clichéd plot line than I do recommend taking a look, it's originality & clever end make for a solid 6/10.

At first, after seeing the trailer, I was like a little bit not surprised about the genre, thriller, or let's say noir movie. As we know that Anwar's two recent movies took the same genre (Dead Time : Kala (2007) and The Forbidden Door (2009)). But as always, Anwar succeed to made me interested.

Well, this is sort of movie which thriller fans will enjoy and I am on of the fan. It was a great experience watching this movie. You'll get a very tensed atmosphere which supported by astounding shooting angle. It is also supported by the score which wasn't excessive, like another typical thriller movie, and still precise.

The actors was quite awesome particularly Rio Dewanto as the leading role. His expression was quite convincing.

The negatives about this movie is a little bit seam computer graphic at one scene. Yeah, just one scene. Also, considering that the actors are all Indonesians and this movie uses English as the language, stiff conversations frequently emerged though their pronunciations was very good.

All could I say, I am proud as Indonesians! Joko Anwar has made such a good movie in the middle of those crappy-cheesy-cheap horror movies invasion in Indonesia. I'm moved how a few Indonesian film-makers still try to raise the Indonesia film towards a better future.

The movie starts you out confused but interested. It gives you a chance to put all of the pieces together as you watch the main character attempts to solve the mystery and save his siblings. Finally you think you have the plot down and you are ready to label the film "slasher flick involving dummies not looking for help, but fighting the battle themselves in the woods". Same lost in the woods genre movies" The director takes you on the twist of the epic proportion. This movie is a classic and a must see for true horror/suspense fans, but you have to be patient,. All will come to light prior the credits rolling and you will rewind it at leas once, if you are like me. ENJOY!!!

Well, i've gotta say that i was interested to watch it because of its catchy title and the idea about an English spoken film made by Indonesians (i reckon it's the 1st Indonesian film which used English as the main language in it).

The 1st 50 minutes, the film seems to be so dull with the shallow explanations, barely interactions from one character to another (unlike other previous Anwar's films), how kid characters ruin it with the way they converse in the forest poorly shows lack of thrilled & anxious expression, seemingly to be a shallow no-background story plot, and unsynchronized & unexplained details(necessarily prepared for the ending). All can lead the audience to a boredom and sleepiness.

Endure it, then the film will show you the worth of Joko Anwar as a writer-director and Rio Dewanto as an actor.

Anwar prepared an unexpected suspense plot mixed with some thrilling horror ingredients blending them all in the perfectly fit location, and served it to the audience with some quite decent cinematography. Dewanto as the leading actor made convincing enough expression and acting (great pukes as well) so that his performance made "John Evans" becoming a more interesting character.

After watching it, some questions may show up in mind regarding the background story that causes things that happen in "Modus Anomali" and how the story goes after the film ends. Generally it's a recommended nice flick to spend the evening with.

8/10.

Started watching this film with very high expectations. i could not have been more disappointed. As for the twist in the end it does not make any sense whatsoever and throughout the film the actions of the lead character are beyond stupid(when you watch this movie you will understand. I am shocked to see that people have rated this fairly high when i would give it a maximum of 4. If you agree with this review after watching please comment, many thanks, hope you enjoy this awful movie as i certainly did not. Like i said the film does start off with some potential but as the film progresses it goes dramatically down hill. You can also tell from this movie that the acting is very bad and that they should have made it in the original language instead of the cast speaking English, very silly if you ask me..