The Curse of Totem 2023 A dark history

I was recently opening my old laptop and found massive collection of movies that I got since I was in high school. Before Netflix and other streaming platform penetrates SEA and specifically Indonesia, many of us just torrent the movie and download series and film to be watched with friends or alone.It was quite nostalgic that I remember how watching film on our laptop needed to go through several hoops before we can actually watch them. But one good thing about it is that, at least for me, it relates to something called marginal utility where the more of it you consume the less satisfaction you get from it. With various film, movies, at a swipe, it’s easy to get less enjoyment. I proved this the other month when I quit Netflix and only starting again sometime in November. At first, I got enjoyment for watching a few movies there and especially newer titles. But now, I started feeling less enjoyment. I do appreciate how it opens me up to many foreign films that are of good quality.

In the past, I tend to associate movies around SEA (South East Asia) with exception of Thailand is bad. But recently even Malaysian and Singaporean have step up their game in the film industry. The other day I was exposed to a movie from Malaysia. The title is “ Sumpahan Jerunai” directed by Jason Chong and for international audience it is called “ The Curse of The Totem”.

During the credit roll of the film, this film is also supported by ministry of culture and starred a famous actor Bront Palarae, who are known within Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. He already starred a few blockbuster Indonesian film as well as collaboration series with the three countries. While he is not the only main protagonist, it creates a familiarity for those who rarely or never venture into Malaysian cinema. Even for me, it was like that too.

This film sets in modern day Malaysia with the location being in Serawak. It revolves around the ancient practice that Melanau ethnic group practices which involves human sacrifice. In the 13th century, if an aristocrat from Melanau dies, two of their slaves will accompany the aristrocat. It is done with one slave crushed under a totem and the other one is tied and starved to death around the totem pole. They believed that these two human being sacrificed will also accompany the aristocrats in the afterlife. While the ritual has been banned, the story and the totem pole still exist today.

Unlike many that integrates only documentary, the apparatus to move the film is based on the characters who are working as researchers trying to unveil the mystery behind Jerunai or the totem. As a horror story, while the creatures are funny and some scenes were hilarious, the scary part is that it is set in a lush forest of serawak.With almost no modern civilization in sight, it’s hard for anybody to hear the scream or even found if somebody had been killed. Not only involving scary creatures, the gory part of it is also worthy to note. While the history is also something that drives the film, it's nice to know that the practice has been outlawed.

I was surprised that though the quality is still less than Thai horror, this Malaysian horror is worth the time. While the acting of the rest aren’t really that good, it was Bront palarae that managed to captivate us with his acting.The cinematography can feel a lot less cinematic but with it combing through the forest of serawak, it creates such a memorable and beautiful beginning of the film. The antagonist of the film can be quite blurry but once we got into almost the ending, the curse was meant to be one particular bloodline and the curse will still exist as long as there is a bloodline on earth. Will the curse ever ends? Wait for the twist that this film has to offer. It’s available on Netflix but unfortunately, no English dubbing for this film yet.