A teenager finds himself tormented by a malevolent spirit in Soul Reaper. Ever since the tragic deaths of his parents, Respati (Devano Danendra) has been tormented by horrific dreams. However, not long after being given Nyai Malam oil by his grandfather, Giman (Budi Ros), Respati finds himself transported to a dream realm, where he witnesses the evil spirit of a witch named Sukma (Ratu Felisha) brutally kill individuals, who are also found dead in the real world.
With the help of his friend Tirta (Mikha Hernan) and a new, equally troubled, classmate Wulan (Keisya Levronka), Respati tries to find out the source of his dreams. This leads him to the medium Mbah Mustika (Sri Isworowati), who tells the history of Sukma from the village of Bajingjowo. Using his unique abilities, Respati must confront Sukma in the dream realm to put an end to this horror.
Soul Reaper Synopsis
Soul Reaper, aka Respati, is an Indonesian horror-fantasy film co-written and directed by Sidharta Tata. The film opens with the protagonist, Respati, tormented in his dreams by the bloody ghosts of his dead parents, who died in a car accident. Respati is receiving treatment for his apparent insomnia, while his grandfather hires Abdul (Fajar Nugra) to help with work around the house. However, it isn’t long until Respati’s dreams become more horrific, especially as he sees people die, who turn up dead in real life.
Respati learns from his new classmate Wulan, who is prone to getting possessed, that he has been entering the supernatural dream realm whenever he goes to sleep. This turns out to be a result of Respati’s heritage of being a descendant of Bajingjowo spiritual leader Nyai Gadung Melati. It is people from the village who are being targeted by the witch Sukma, and Respati must learn to use his abilities to stop her.
My Thoughts on Soul Reaper
The last decade has seen a strong surge of horror films from Indonesia, with notable titles including Satan’s Slaves, Impetigore, and The Queen of Black Magic. However, sadly, Soul Reaper doesn’t quite match the quality of those films. The film is less a pure horror film and more of a dark fantasy with horror elements. Consequently, this results in Soul Reaper often being a film that is not all that scary.
The basic premise of Soul Reaper is somewhat akin to A Nightmare on Elm Street, as an evil spirit haunts the dreams of its victims. However, the villain Sukma is silhouetted in a bright light for most of her appearances, and when she does turn up, Sukma turns into a monster that looks more like a Tarkatan from Mortal Kombat. While Soul Reaper takes some time to explain why Respati has the abilities that he does, the film doesn’t do the same for his new friend Wulan, who at one point seems to get possessed just for there to be a horror set-piece.
Even though Soul Reaper has a running time of just under two hours, the plot does tend to drag. This includes a side-quest in the third act to track down a just-discovered living accomplice of Sukma. Ultimately, Soul Reaper comes off as a bit of a disappointment in the growing pantheon of Indonesian horror.