Indigo – Netflix Review (2/5)

INDIGO on Netflix is a new horror movie from Indonesia. It has a supernatural plot and gorgeous production quality. Also, Rocky Soraya is the director (again!) and its runtime is too long. Read our full Indigo (2023) movie review here!

INDIGO is a new Netflix horror movie addition. With the tagline of “What Do You See?” it should come as no surprise that it’s a paranormal story. One that deals with demons or ghosts and the people who can see these supernatural entities.

Those born with the gift (or curse, depending on how you see it) are called “Indigos”. Hence the title! While this movie has a lot going for it, it also has a runtime of 1 hour and 58 minutes which is far too long. Overall, however, it should entertain most horror fans to some extent!

Continue reading our Indigo movie review below. Find it on Netflix from February 26, 2024.

A family of Indigos

In Indigo, we meet the young Zora, haunted by a demonic presence. It’s in the form of a pregnant woman who terrifies the young girl, so her family naturally asks for help. Originally, they believed it was because of all sorts of mental or psychological problems, but have finally accepted that it’s supernatural.

When the movie begins, Zora is a child and the woman her parents have contacted to help the poor girl is successful. Her name is Sekar (Sara Wijayanto) and she manages to get rid of both the malevolent force and Zora’s abilities as an Indigo. She effectively closes the “third eye” of the girl.

This is the whole opening sequence and what comes next is a time jump. Now Zora is a young adult with no memory of her childhood as an Indigo. However, now her younger sister turns out to also be an indigo. They must fight together to finally overcome the demonic forces attacking them!

From practical effects to CGI

As is usually the case with these horror movies from Indonesia, there’s a mix of both practical effects and CGI. I am not always a fan of the CGI – rarely, to be honest – but at times it is quite efficient in Indigo.

While I do tend to love the use of practical effects, I find it less scary in a movie like this. Mostly because it tends to be a woman with some kind of wild make-up who just stands there staring at you.

Having said that I did have a few moments in Indigo, where it worked better. Also, one should acknowledge and appreciate that this is just the style of Indonesian horror.

Much like J-Horror tends to have a woman with long black hair covering her face and wearing something white, so she’s essentially a black-and-white entity. It might not be for me, but it is the style used, and I have to recognize that Indigo does well within the classic Indonesian horror parameters.

Watch Indigo on Netflix now!

As mentioned earlier, this is yet another Indonesian horror movie from Rocky Soraya. It’s no secret that when it comes to Indonesian horror, we have a huge soft spot for Joko Anwar. Rocky Soraya makes a lot of horror movies, and if you enjoy quality over quantity, then you’ll surely have the same preference.

Having said that, the production quality of Indigo is of a very impressive level. The lighting alone easily outperforms Tyler Perry’s Mea Culpa, and I can only imagine how far apart the budgets for each of these movies are.

The story for Indigo also comes from Rocky Soraya though the script was written by Riheam Junianti. This duo has used the same constellation for many films already, so in many ways, it’s more of the same.

I wish Soraya would focus more on getting the best out of his actors (and, at times, the plot) instead of wanting to be hands-on in every other aspect of filmmaking. I feel confident it would greatly improve the end result. And for Indigo, the result isn’t bad. It just isn’t great either!

Indigo is out on Netflix from February 26, 2024.

Details

Director: Rocky Soraya
Writers: Riheam Junianti, Rocky Soraya
Cast: Aliando Syarief, Amanda Manopo, Sara Wijayanto, Amnah Shahab, Aruma Khadijah, Ferry Ardiansyah, Intan R.J., M. Alfarizi, Mira Asmara, Nicole Rossi, Rina Ritonga, Ryuken Lie