Director: Joko Anwar
Year: 2022
Country: Indonesia
Alternate Titles: Pengabdi setan 2: Communion
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Trying to move on past the previous events, the family from the original haunting are trying to move on in a new apartment complex only to find the curse that plagued their family was more involved than they expected and requires her to save them from the new threat.
Review:
This was an exceptionally enjoyable sequel that’s almost as good as the stellar original. Among the better features here is the superb setup that provides a lot of context towards the previous film’s storyline while also going in a different enough direction to be somewhat original. With a heavy focus on the family’s life following the tragedy from the first film and their adjusting to life after that features a slew of pieces about their scattered mindset and inability to truly cope to the degree of becoming functioning members of society again, the tie-in with the first film seeing what the outcome is like for people that went through that kind of situation and come out are featured rather well.
That sets up the fantastic relationship involving the residents of the apartment complex they decide to stay at which starts in on the supernatural hauntings. With brief glimpses at the lives of several of the residents there so we get an idea of the normality present, the influx of supernatural-tinged accidents that soon befall people offers a stellar slow-build of weird yet unnatural occurrences. With the child nearly getting sucked into the trash shoot following the voices inside that are calling out to him, the tragic elevator accident that’s unnerving on multiple levels, and the other resident encountering a terrifying message from beyond the grave on a radio player, these incidents and situations point to a wholly unnatural force at work.
It all comes to a head nicely in the finale where this one really shines. As the power outage requires them to use flashlights or matches to see in the dark, this has a lot of the jump-scares and chilling imagery caused by characters turning lights on only to be confronted by startling shock images of the ghastly figures appearing out of the darkness that’s unbelievably effective. The revelations made about the history of the building and what’s causing the curse to be in place come off quite well with the kids managing to solve everything by themselves giving everything a great touch as well with the ability to understand what’s going on. With some truly nightmarish images on display here and a brutal tone to the deaths of the characters that get taken out, it’s all quite enjoyable.
On top of all this, the film manages to score incredibly well with its technical qualities. The slick visuals and moody atmosphere created throughout add an unquestionable air of suspense to the proceedings as the ever-present storm in the second half forces plenty of mood lighting to be able to see. This manages to work with pretty much the entire film given a glossy feel which becomes quite enjoyable to watch giving this a lot of positives to hold over the lone flaw here. The main issue is the somewhat unnecessary running time that doesn’t need to be there with the build-up taking place due to the storylines and use of repetition of several jump scare types for the final half that can potentially be somewhat underwhelming but is not detrimental overall.
Overview: ****.5/5
Just a notch below the original but still incredibly worthwhile, this is a worthy follow-up that doesn’t reach the heights of the stellar forebearer but taken on its own still has plenty to like about it. Those who are fans of the modern Asian Horror scene, appreciate the original, or the creative crew will have quite a lot to like here while only those turned off by the style won’t have a lot to like.
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