After reading one sentence of this Indonesian movie promoted in Netflix under the coming soon section, I was heavily intrigued. So when it was finally released yesterday, I immediately gave it a try. Without further ado, here's more on the film.

Brief Story Line

When a corpse was found at the border of Indonesia and Malaysia in Borneo island, Inspector Sanja (Putri Marino - The Big 4, Layangan Putus the Movie etc) was sent from Jakarta to investigate. However, the local police chief Panca (Lukman Sardi - Nightmares and Daydreams TV series, Gundala etc) was not so receptive as he thought she was too green. Panca later assigned one of his subordinate Thomas (Yoga Pratama - Berbalas Kejam, Buya Hamka etc) to accompany Sanja during the investigation.

Despite being an outsider, Sanja still managed to find a lot of information. Things would become more complicated when it was found out that there was more than 1 victim. 

So what was the reason for the sadistic killings and who was the one doing them? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

If you have read my previous posts, you would know that I am not a big fan of Indonesian movies except when it is of interesting topic or unusual genre. This one definitely fall under the seldom type of films that Indonesian movie makers create (not from lack of trying but likely due to commercial consideration). Anyway the crime thriller genre is something of interest for me, so I watched this with high anticipation.

At first, the movie seemed to be quite promising with the finding of the first victim that was quite shocking. As the story progressed with a dark and gloomy tone, audience was brought through a bit of clue findings. However, somehow I felt the investigation was done a bit aimlessly, like it was not done in methodical manner and just go with the flow. Plus there seemed to be a bit of unnecessary side plot of Sanja's past (which was not explored too deep anyway, might as well scrap it to my opinion). Fortunately the second half of the movie was more exciting with a bit more action and also intriguing with a twist which was not really surprising but quite OK. The climax was pretty good and I kind of like the ending. That is until I saw the final scene which really ruined it. I mean come on, what was the point of showing that? Instead of giving us a surprise, it was only making it confusing (at least for me. Maybe other people could appreciate).

This movie had a duration of 110 minutes which was more than enough to cover the whole story and possibly could have been shortened without certain scenes. It was directed by Edwin who was experienced in directing critically acclaimed films like Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas, Babi Buta yang Ingin Terbang etc. He was also credited as the writer together with Ifan Ismail (Sultan Agung: Tahta, Perjuangan, Cinta, Habibie & Ainun etc). And it did not seem to be based on anything, so their creativity should be applauded. Thankfully Netflix is willing to produce the kind of movies that probably would have hard time to succeed in cinemas such as this one (unlike those supernatural horror and teen romance drama).

The cast in general were pretty decent. They looked natural in their roles and even Putri Marino was able to show off her agility. In addition to those names, there were support characters like a Dayaknese man named Silas (Yusuf Mahardika - Vina: Sebelum 7 Hari etc) who was relative to one of the victims, the small store owner Bujang (Yudi Ahmad Tajudin - Autobiography etc), a local crime boss Agam (Kiki Narendra - Pengabdi Setan 2: The Communion etc) and few others. There was a surprising brief appearance of the well known Nicholas Saputra (Ada Apa dengan Cinta? etc). This marked the second time he played in the same movie with Putri Marino after the commercially successful The Architecture of Love. 

Btw, the English title was Borderless Fog which actually translated a bit different to the original. The literal translation of Kabut Berduri would be Thorny Fog which I guess did not sound too good. As a thriller movie, this might not be of the highest quality. But as another effort to bring variety to Indonesian entertainment industry, it should be highly appreciated. The cinematography was pretty excellent with the clear depiction of border between Indonesia and Malaysia plus the special effects quite good. The story telling to me could have been done better. But all in all, I was OK with the film. So if you want to see a different kind of Indonesian movie, then you could give this one a try. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars