Review: KKN di Desa Penari (2022)

50/50

With KKN di Desa Penari, a horror film released by the locally-infamous MD Pictures, I begin to question what cinema truly is. But here's the thing: KKN di Desa Penari is not good. I mean, you could've guessed it from my mixed grade, but this film feels... weirdly profound. I left the cinema feeling a new sense of numbness, but that feeling also includes a kind of disconnect from the environment around me. The tranquil air of the cinema feels damp. The crowded mall becomes dense. This is not, I think, what writer-director Awi Suryadi intended. But however bad it may be, I was grateful to be able to catch a seat and experience this surreal work.

For you foreign readers: in Indonesia: KKN is a student study service, which is a kind of community service intended for academic study for college students, primarily. I think you may know where it's going from here. "Desa Penari"-- "The Dancer Village". Horror. College students. In this film, we follow a group of students who visit a village in the woods, as they slowly discover something sinister about the place that ultimately affects them. Mythicism and religious theories are prominent themes in the film, with the screenplay coalescing the two and picking on something the two have in common: sex.

Ehhh, it's weird if I am obligated as a critic to encapsulate the film here. Just... watch it. Even if I don't necessarily recommend this film. But anyway.

And throughout the film, it feels like that. It feels weird. I can't even grasp what the premise should truly be. Suriyadi seems to try to reach transcendence in the film, as proved by the psychological music and atmospheric cinematography, but it all juxtaposes ominously with the poorly-written story. Or poorly-trimmed cut. Not sure. But just note that a lot of us have been awaiting this supposed masterpiece since 2020-- yes, over two years! They delayed the film several times by giving fans false hopes.

As a critic, I realize the power marketing has on how you view a film. Although I try to stray from the PRs, no one in Indonesia can avoid the trailers and tweets about this film, so representing the audience here is also representing myself. The film is riveting in several parts, but with all the waiting, it falls flat. Nothing seems to have been done throughout the two years. I think the projector must've been overwhelmed keeping the digital cinema package for two years, to the point where it glitched thrice in my screening.

But it's not just that. KKN di Desa Penari felt too overwhelming for the sake of ourselves, as if they packaged multiple screenplays by Suryiadi, putting successive screenplays on top of another like visual overlays. It thus becomes disoriented, and not necessarily in a good way. As with many "fell flat" films, the opening sequence here is the best. It evokes a new sense of the unknown in Indonesian cinema, as if the characters are totally blind to their creepy surroundings. Nur, arguably the main character here, feels some kind of concern but cannot really decipher her heart, which gives the film a momentary, unique eerieness.

But when your film's opening ends with a Midsommar (2019)-esque shot of the characters driving to the catalytic site, I kind of expect a certain level to be achieved from the film. I did not get it. In fact, I did not get the film at all. As I said, it tried to be multiple things at the same time. I told someone on Discord, "It tried to be arthouse while appealing to the mainstream." The mystic nature of the village is amplified too much, it felt like I was mentally deafened. Not even the objectively funny jokes by one of the characters can save the horror flick.

Recapping the film's plot, I think Suriyadi sort of wanted to achieve this sense, so encyclopedically he did it. The characters are in a constant state of alarm. They are slowly turning insane. I think what's best are the cinematography and music. As I said, they are integral to some of the feelings. The camera is always near to the characters, even in exterior nature shots. Predominantly the film uses a brown-green color palette, which provides a forest horror feel as well as a psychedelic tone to the story. It feels like a documentary. The music never forces itself to be heavy, only deafening our ears when it needs to. It follows the rhythm of the scene and at times felt like an auditory representation of what I'm feeling.

It's a confusing film.

Part of it, at first glance, seemed to be caused by the acting, but personally, I think the cast did the best they could. They provide what they were provided. But their talents are downplayed by the banal script. It doesn't provide them with the space to breathe and be themselves on camera, and instead gave each character a specific wiki that when deviated just a bit can ruin the entire performance. I understand that each characters represent a different personality, but I can't feel any personality if the screenplay is this rigid.

It's this weird mix that Suriyadi provided to the production team between mythology and nature. It feels like each day of screenwriting is a different mood to him, and thus he wanted the film to be many things. It left me unsure of what his true intentions are in the first place. What the pitch was. Captivating and horrific are definitely two things that can be complemented, but not in KKN di Desa Penari. Not to mention the jumpscares, which completely took me off the increasing immersion. My heart skipped a beat, sure, but that is not what I want amid the increasing numbers of cheap horror flicks in Indonesia.

Yet... for all its downsides, KKN di Desa Penari felt new. Fresh in some way, rotten in another, but nevertheless, in any angle that you can think of, fresh. I was captivated to see such ambitions on the big screen, and I see Suriyadi as a potential filmmaker, both in the mainstream and arthouse genre. He is a filmmaker with a heart, and some of the film's endearing moments show his potential to connect with the audience theatrically. He just should understand what he really wants the next time. I didn't like this film. But I didn't regret seeing it. I'm just astounded, by both positive and negative connotations.

So... what truly is cinema? Well, for Suriyadi, he's figuring it out.

KKN di Desa Penari is playing in cinemas.