Pamali [Movie Review]

Pamali [Movie Review] | Another horror story? Why not? I went to the cinema and brought (read: forced) my friends to watch this one with me last weekend. 

Pamali means taboo in the society. And it sounds the same in Iban, my first language and means the same too. Hence, we are neighbours, so our stories and taboos might also similar. 

Do not cut your nails at night, do not pat your belly at night, do not the flashlight to the tree top at night and many more were some taboos that were told to me by my late grandma. 

And somehow, most are associated with night time. 

SYNOPSIS

Pamali (2022) Trivia

• Starring: Marthino Lio, Putri Ayudya, Taskya Namya, Unique Priscilla, Rukman Rosadi & Fajar Nugra
• Director: Bobby Prasetyo
• Producer: Andi Suryanto, Wida Handoyo & Willy Suryanto
• Production Companies: Lyto Pictures
• Distributed by: Suraya Films
• Release date: October 6, 2022
• Running time: 99 minutes
• Rating: TV-MA
  
• Country: Indonesia
  
• Language: Indonesia
• IMDb: 5.5/ 10
• Tomatometer: NA
• Metascore: NA
• Pamali is adapted from the game Pamali: Indonesian Folklore Horror made by Story Stale Studio which was released in 2018. 
• The set are built similar to the set in the game it was based upon.

Jaka brings his pregnant wife, Rika, back to his hometown as they are both now jobless. Jaka wants to return to his family's house and for Rika to have their baby there. There is also a potential buyer taht's interested to buy the house. 

Arriving at the village, they meet with Cecep who has been trusted to care for Jaka's house. Cecep's grandmother advises Rika to take care of her pregnancy. 

Arriving at the house, Jaka realises the house is in dire condition and there's no electricity. At first, Rika seems uneasy to stay at the house but due to their current situation, she reluctantly agrees. 

That night, Rika cuts her nail and her hair. And that's a pamali at the village.

The movie shifts to another scene where a girl cuts her nails at night time while looking outside the window, waiting for her husband to come home. Her father comes in and advises her not to continue cutting her nails for it brings bad luck or pamali. 

Back to current days, Jaka and Rika continue to clean the house and have the electricity restored. Rika jokingly mentions that their bedsheet are too white, just like the ghost pocong. 

Rika finds long hair in the bathroom while cleaning it. 

There's a room that they could not open and Jaka sends for a locksmith to assist with the room tomorrow. That night, she hears someone crying from the locked room. 

Jaka has no recollection of his time staying at the house growing up and it has been 20 years since he left to leave with his grandarents when he was 6 years old. 

The movie shifts again to olden days at the house. It depicts Nenden, Jaka's elder sister and their parents living at the house and they were going through some family problems. 

Jaka manages to get the door open, and it seems he has also open a door to his family memories in the room. 

And the disturbance starts. The spirit seems pretty angry at Jaka and he doesn't know why. 

Why is the spirit stays in the house? Can Jaka and Rika sell the house?

MY REVIEW

Plot: 4.6/ 5.0 I love the direction that I thought the movie would go after a few minutes into the movie. Of course I want to learn why I was not allowed to cut my hair or nail at night or whistle at night. But the introduction of all these taboos with no follow up left me hanging. 

There were some scary scenes but not too much. The movie was a tad slow at the beginning as it was trying to share the characters and the build up. 

Cast: 4.8/ 5.0 The actors were great in delivering their parts. 

Will I Watch It Again: I think yes and I hope there will be a second part. 

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

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