Warning! Spoilers for Impetigore ahead
Joko Anwar’s Indonesian folk horror film Midsommar (2019), represents the normative structure of a folk horror film: set in Europe or Scandinavia which centers around traditionally white lore. Impetigore challenges these expectations by shifting the narrative away from Europe and Scandinavia while digging into the beauty and intricacies of Indonesian folk-based horror.
The definition of the Hårga people. Each of these are folk horror films that center around white narratives and tradition; Impetigore does not.
That is not to say that non-western folk horror films haven't existed for decades, but that they have been largely overlooked in favor of western stories. In fact, Kaneto Shindo’s Japanese film, Kuroneko (1968), and Na Hong-jin’s South Korean film, The Wailing (2016), are two of the sub-genre’s most iconic works, but they are not the first to come to mind upon mentioning the sub-genre itself. Impetigore’s impeccable storytelling, shocking folklore, and incessant horror escapes the expectations created by Eurocentric folk horror.
Impetigore Escapes Folk Horror’s Expectations
Impetigore quite literally has it all in regards to horror: a curse, spirits, folklore, cannibalism, puppets, black magic, and bizarre birth defects. The most vital aspect that makes it folk horror is its use of an isolated village, a curse that runs twenty years deep, and traditions specific to Indonesian culture. Midsommar contains similar aspects except for the fact that Aster created the Swedish mid-summer festival of the Hårga people by combining multiple traditions into one. Anwar’s film stays true to the time, setting, location, people, and practices of Impetigore. In doing so, it suggests that the horrors of folklore are unique to each group and can be used as a mode of representing important aspects of it.
Where Impetigore truly redefines what folk horror can be is in its use of sound, gore, and lighting. European or Scandinavian horror occurs during the day, such as Midsommar. In the Indonesian film, it happens all day long no matter how light or dark it is. Anwar implements the Islam influenced puppetry in the Java Indonesian tradition of Wayang Kulit. The practice uses light to cast shadows of the puppets against a tapestry while drum-heavy music plays to tell a story. Not only is it a historically significant practice to the people in Impetigore, it is also important to the people it represents. The film has no shortage of gore either. From skinless infants to cannibalism, Anwar does not shy away from bloody scenes.
Ultimately, Impetigore does not present folk horror as a part of a celebration like Midsommar or The Wicker Man. It showcases the horrors that exist in folkloric tradition based on a specific group of people in Indonesia. The horror is heightened by the gore that’s often missing from films in the sub-genre. Joko Anwar’s Impetigore defies the Eurocentric expectation that is set on folk horror films such as Midsommar and brings non-western films of the genre to the forefront of discussion.
