Grave Torture is a 2024 Indonesian psychological horror film directed by Joko Anwar and the cast includes Faradina Mufti, Reza Rahadian, Christine Hakim, and Slamet Rahardjo.
Joko Anwar, known for his gripping and thought-provoking horror films, delivers another intriguing story with Grave Torture (Siksa Kubur).
The film begins with Sita and Adil, siblings whose lives are shattered when their parents are killed in a bakery bombing.
The terrorist, motivated by religious fear of grave torture, leaves behind a recording supposedly capturing the screams of the punished in their graves.
Sita then grows up questioning her faith and becomes determined to disprove the existence of grave torture.
She embarks on a shocking experiment, burying herself with a camcorder next to the corpse of a known child abuser, hoping to prove the recording is a hoax.
Anwar excels in Grave Torture in creating a film with a very strong atmosphere and the opening scene will draw you into the family’s life.
The first half is brilliant with perfect pacing as it lays the tension with strong visuals and music as it drops subtle hints of dread throughout with some half decent jump scares.
Sita’s journey will resonate with you as we witness her grappling with her faith, revenge, and the consuming nature of religious fear, and these elements build an emotional connection with the film that keeps you gripped with what is happening.
The film also balances its horror elements quite well, creating dread from both supernatural elements and the real world, and the cinematography is great too, as it switches between chaos and calmness expertly.
Visually you will be impressed as well, with some strongest scenes delivering some creative and unsettling imagery.
While the first half of the film is quite good, unfortunately, the film falters a bit in the second half, in particular in its last act.
It becomes a little messy with the narration and some of the themes in the film get lost the longer it goes on and it becomes a little bit messy and incoherent.
And while some of the jump scares are not too bad when used as mentioned above, they are over done a bit too and become a bit repetitive.
The film also assumes some knowledge of the themes, and for those who are not, may find it a bit difficult to follow, and while it can still be enjoyed without this knowledge, this might put some people off as they watch.
But despite a few shortcomings, Grave Torture showcases Joko Anwar’s undeniable talent for crafting horror as the first 90 minutes are gripping, blending emotional depth with unsettling visuals.
But, the ending didn't live up to what came before and seemed to go with an easy option rather then follow what was developed in the build up and some themes just got a bit lost.
I still definitely recommend giving Grave Torture a watch though, as it is a decent film overall despite some flaws and there is a lot to like about it as well.
[Grave Torture on IMDB] [Where to watch Grave Torture]
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