Modus Anomali aka. Ritual starts with a man waking up in the woods with no recollection about himself and his whereabouts. Gradually he pieces together his predicament with the help of a video camera and realises that he must find his two children all while battling people who are trying to kill him.
The premise, while not new is presented interestingly. We follow our protagonist and like him we as a viewer are also unaware of what is happening. The film invites us to piece the puzzle along with our protagonist and whatever we see onscreen is from his point-of-view, so when he realises that he has a family or his name is John, we realise that at that very instant. Dramatic irony is almost non-existent in the entire film.
The film doesn't follow a conventional narrative structure where you get a protagonist, an antagonist, a conflict and a confrontation in the end. We don't even know about John and how he got here and who the villain is? The entire film is like a chase scene between the victim and hunter, full of question with how and why. Due to this, it becomes heavily reliant on its climax to give the necessary resolution and tie things up neatly. The film, right from the commencement bets heavily on its climax but prevails only partly. While the twist at the end is genuinely good, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions in its wake. The way the plot progresses from second to third act is really weird and feels completely out-of-place and disconnected from the narrative. It's implied that some sort of drug is responsible but the way it's shown is lousy.
The entire story is set in a forest and is shot using natural lights which heightens the atmosphere and helps tremendously in ratcheting up the tension while also creating a suspenseful and moody atmosphere full of dread and gloom.
From the beginning to the end, we follow our protagonist, played by Rio Dewanto, and in nearly 75% of the scenes he is the only person on screen. While in physical tasks like running, fighting, jumping etcetera he excels, but being the only actor on the screen for almost the entirety of the film, his character also demands a lot of emotional stuff, and that's where he botches everything up. And it soon becomes a problem because the film contains very few dialogues and most of the scene demands acting without lines and in lot of places our lead needs to show his vulnerable side. Those scenes demanded subtle acting but Rio is really bad in those moments. Other cast members come and go for two or three scenes and they are stereotypically written and mediocrely performed.
This is the most different film in Joko Anwar's stellar filmography, and also his weakest. The way he chose to exhibit his story is excellent but falters in its rendering. He begins his film nicely but after a time, the film starts to lose its grip. It's not until the end of the film when the film gains some momentum. The mid-section feels really slow and lackadaisical. Withal, the moody atmosphere he created was top-notch.
Cinematography is awesome with some incredible use of handheld camera. Most of the film is shot in handheld mode which creates a sense of disorientation while long takes gives a sense of being trapped. Gunnar Nimpuno's camerawork is masterfully coherent and impeccably captures the setting and action.
Ritual is an interesting and fresh take on a done-to-death horror setting of being trapped in a jungle while being hunted. While the initial and final parts of the film are really tense, it's the mid-section that exhausts. Also, a lot of pending questions doesn't help its case. It is an impressively shot psychological thrill ride albeit you have to overlook its sundry flaws in order to enjoy the ride, which to be fair are exceedingly tough to ignore.
The premise, while not new is presented interestingly. We follow our protagonist and like him we as a viewer are also unaware of what is happening. The film invites us to piece the puzzle along with our protagonist and whatever we see onscreen is from his point-of-view, so when he realises that he has a family or his name is John, we realise that at that very instant. Dramatic irony is almost non-existent in the entire film.
The film doesn't follow a conventional narrative structure where you get a protagonist, an antagonist, a conflict and a confrontation in the end. We don't even know about John and how he got here and who the villain is? The entire film is like a chase scene between the victim and hunter, full of question with how and why. Due to this, it becomes heavily reliant on its climax to give the necessary resolution and tie things up neatly. The film, right from the commencement bets heavily on its climax but prevails only partly. While the twist at the end is genuinely good, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions in its wake. The way the plot progresses from second to third act is really weird and feels completely out-of-place and disconnected from the narrative. It's implied that some sort of drug is responsible but the way it's shown is lousy.
The entire story is set in a forest and is shot using natural lights which heightens the atmosphere and helps tremendously in ratcheting up the tension while also creating a suspenseful and moody atmosphere full of dread and gloom.
From the beginning to the end, we follow our protagonist, played by Rio Dewanto, and in nearly 75% of the scenes he is the only person on screen. While in physical tasks like running, fighting, jumping etcetera he excels, but being the only actor on the screen for almost the entirety of the film, his character also demands a lot of emotional stuff, and that's where he botches everything up. And it soon becomes a problem because the film contains very few dialogues and most of the scene demands acting without lines and in lot of places our lead needs to show his vulnerable side. Those scenes demanded subtle acting but Rio is really bad in those moments. Other cast members come and go for two or three scenes and they are stereotypically written and mediocrely performed.
This is the most different film in Joko Anwar's stellar filmography, and also his weakest. The way he chose to exhibit his story is excellent but falters in its rendering. He begins his film nicely but after a time, the film starts to lose its grip. It's not until the end of the film when the film gains some momentum. The mid-section feels really slow and lackadaisical. Withal, the moody atmosphere he created was top-notch.
Cinematography is awesome with some incredible use of handheld camera. Most of the film is shot in handheld mode which creates a sense of disorientation while long takes gives a sense of being trapped. Gunnar Nimpuno's camerawork is masterfully coherent and impeccably captures the setting and action.
Ritual is an interesting and fresh take on a done-to-death horror setting of being trapped in a jungle while being hunted. While the initial and final parts of the film are really tense, it's the mid-section that exhausts. Also, a lot of pending questions doesn't help its case. It is an impressively shot psychological thrill ride albeit you have to overlook its sundry flaws in order to enjoy the ride, which to be fair are exceedingly tough to ignore.