Sumala Review: If Chucky and M3GAN Had a Demon Baby…
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Okay here’s what I liked best about the Indonesian horror movie Sumala – it’s got a coherent story, serving viewers both the origin story of its primary ghoul/ghost/demon called Sumala, while also explaining why she wants to brutally murder everyone in her village, including little kids. The makers clearly mention that the story is based on a real urban legend, so writers Betz Illustration, and Riheam Junianti already had a lot of material to work with. But unfortunately, the writers and director Rizal Mantovani rely on over the top gory scenes to gross out viewers, instead of delivering a spine-chilling horror story. That said, it can still be a guilty pleasure for horror fans looking for a campy flick.
Set between the 1940s and 1970s, Sumala opens with the ghastly murder of a young boy who was playing ball with a friend—despite warnings from the village elders not to stay out after sunset. Locals believe he was killed by Sumala, a demonic girl who haunts the village. Flashbacks to the 1940s unravel the tragic story of twin sisters, Kumala and Sumala, played by actor Makayla Rose Hilli.
The girls are born out of black magic after their mother, Sulastri (Luna Maya), a desperate and barren woman, seeks dark forces to conceive, fearing her husband Soedjiman (Darius Sinathrya) will take another wife if they remain childless for another year. A child with special needs, Kumala is treated horribly by her father and bullied by the local boys. Her evil twin, Sumala – a devil’s spawn – takes it upon herself to exact bloody revenge on everyone who was cruel to her sister, including their father.
Child actor Makayla Rose Hilli delivers a fantastic performance as Kumala, the human twin, seamlessly shifting from a helpless, neglected child – brutally punished by her father – to a chillingly possessed girl with murder in her eyes. On the other hand, Sumala – the murderous demonic twin – resembles a human version of Chucky from Child’s Play mixed with the eerie menace of the evil robot M3GAN. The makers reveal the ghoulish form of Sumala in the very first ten minutes of the film, diffusing any suspense or horror over what she might look like.
The rest of the cast is lackluster, with Luna Maya’s Sulastri doing little more than silently watching her cruel husband, Soedjiman, mistreat their daughter. Even in those dialogue-free moments, a stronger actor might have conveyed more depth than Luna Maya’s one-note portrayal of Sulastri. Darius Sinathrya is just fine as the mean dad, but isn’t able to carry the more emotional scenes expected out of him during the climax.
For traditional horror fans, the redeeming factor about Sumala is how the demon gleefully and ruthlessly murders everybody. A lot of those murder scenes are over-the-top, excessively gory, and also highly unrealistic. For those simply looking for a no-brainer horror movie filled with deaths, madness, and some good old melodrama featuring a dysfunctional family ruled by an authoritarian father and a mute mother, this makes for a decent one-time watch.
Rating: 2.5 stars on 5. You can watch the film on Netflix.
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