Indonesian horror films always look promising and Awi Suryadi’s ‘Danur: I Can See Ghosts’ is no different. Adapted from Risa Saraswati’s bestselling novel (“Gerbang Dialog Danur”), the film has been the highest-grossing Indonesian supernatural thriller in 2017 (or probably till date).
‘Danur: I Can See Ghosts’ has a sequel ‘Danur 2: Maddah,’ directed by Suryadi and released in March 2018.
This 2017-released ‘Danur’ follows a little girl Risa who spends her entire time at home feeling lonely. Her father is working somewhere in a remote area, while she lives with her mother at her grandmother’s home.
Risa’s mother too has little time for her daughter as she must take care of her sick grandmother in the hospital and work as a government servant. So, Risa spends her school holidays seating lonely at home.
On her birthday evening, when Risa’s mother is late, the little girl blows the candle and wishes for a friend. She then starts seeing three kids: Peter, William, and Janshen, playing hide-and-seek in the house.
Risa befriends, plays, and chats with them. She even learns from her ghostly friends that they were murdered in this house and they are living here for a long. Even knowing this, she was not afraid and expressed her wish to be with them forever.
As her mother finds this behavior strange, Risa doesn’t care about the fact that her friends are not visible to others. But there is an instance when she is encouraged by her ghost friends to commit suicide to be with them forever. She was fortunately saved by her mother and a wise man helped her to see the real forms of her friends.
This incident finally showed her the reality of her ghostly friends. She was then advised not to pay attention to any such ghostly elements and thereafter she never saw them again.
The film then fast-forwards to nine years when Risa is now a teenager. When she returns to her old grandma’s house, things take a turn as her younger sister goes missing and Risa has no other option but take helps her ghostly friends.
Danur: I Can See Ghosts – Watch the Movie Trailer
‘Danur: I Can See Ghosts’ is for those of us who like Indonesian horror films. However, the story is predictable, and the narration is too linear. There could have been more in terms of characterization. While the cinematography is good, the film score doesn’t add anything to the spooky atmosphere. One positive thing about the film is its performance by the key characters.
Starring: Prilly Latuconsina, Sandrinna Michelle Skornicki, Shareefa Daanish, Asha Kenyeri Bermudez, Indra Brotolaras, Kinaryosih, Inggrid Widjanarko, Wesley Andrew, Kevin Bzezovski Taroreh, Gamaharitz, and Aisha Khorunnisa Lestari.
Director: Awi Suryadi
Writer(s): Lele Laila and Ferry Lesmana
Release Date/Year: 30 March 2017
Country: Indonesia
Language: Indonesian
Where to watch Danur (2017)
