THE CORPSE WASHER - Cleaning The Dead is Always Terrifying (Indonesia, 2024)

This Netflix movie is also known as Pemandi Jenazah

When an Indonesian horror movie with my favourite actress gets released, I make sure I can watch it. Aghniny Haque seems to be turning into the new Chelsea Islan, Julie Estelle or Tara Basro.

In fact, if a movie with all four of them was released, it would be an instant must watch.

And while I like watching Aghniny Haque movies, even if they are terribly average like KKN or Qorin, one thing I don’t enjoy watching is super religious horror movies.

Which makes watching most Indonesian films very difficult.

However, while this movie can’t go a minute without some kind of religious dialogue, I actually found myself enjoying the ride it took me on.

But I am starting to really doubt that Aghniny can act.

PLOT

Lela comes from a family of corpse washers. Their job is to prepare the dead body for burial, to clean it from it sins and anything that might prevent the soul from being accepted into heaven.

When a series of deaths occur in her village, all involving her mother and her mother’s group of friends, Lela discovers a connection - a piece of barb wire found on the bodies of all the dead women.

As she investigates more, she discovers another woman was part of her mother’s friendship group and is getting revenge for her wrongful death.

ABOUT THE FILM

I know I said I enjoyed this film, and I did - that’s not a lie - but I’m really conflicted about if I want to recommend it.

First, the religion issues. It’s very strong, and if you loathe religious horror movies, then this movie is not for you.

The other thing is the possession scenes. There’s just something strange about the way the actors portray being possessed that looks more like they are having a seizure than being invaded by an evil spirit. They’re just silly and the problem is they occur to frequently to be ignored.

Then there is the fact that I am not convinced that Aghniny can’t act. She’s beautiful and I like watching her movies, but during any emotional scenes her face just breaks apart and she becomes unbelievable.

But there is something about this film that just makes it interesting. It’s probably the novel idea of the focus on a corpse washer - which would be the western equivalent of a movie being focused on a coroner like The Autopsy of Jane Doe - mixed with a whodunnit mystery of trying to work out why these middle aged women are being killed.

Then of course there is the social message about mob mentality and village justice, which can be quite brutal to watch, but the introduction of the police character is there to ensure that no one is above the law.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

So yes, I liked this, and I think if the topic is interesting to you then it could be a title worth your time, just be forewarned about the heavy-handed religious scenes all throughout the film.

This is one of the more interesting Indonesian horror flicks I’ve seen in a while, but as always, what did you think of it?

Genre Horror Drama
Director Hadrah Daeng Ratu
Starring Aghniny Haque, Djenar Maesa Ayu, Ibrahim Risyad, Amara Sophie
Original Title Pemandi Jenazah
Alternative Title The Corpse Washer
Country of Origin Indonesia
Release Date 22 February 2024

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