The Indonesian horror movie scene has become a vital part of the Asian horror movie subgenre as a whole over the last couple of decades, and time and time again, it has shown strong potential to dominate the international market as well through character-driven, well-crafted narratives that transcend genre boundaries. The popular horror-comedy Agak Laen, which was released earlier this year and took the country’s box office by storm, is a perfect example of these aspects.Â
As separate genres, both comedy and horror provide an insight into human life from possibly the most honest standpoint, which is where Agak Laen excels as well. Although the scare factor remains at a minimum through the entirety of the movie, the chemistry between the lead quartet characters—equal parts heart and humor—more than makes up for it.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Oki Join His Friends To Relaunch The Haunted House Ride?
The movie opens in Rawa Senggol Night Market, as we meet a recently released ex-con, Oki, getting fed up over his new job as a target of a carnival game. Jongki, the owner of the Night Market, who had provided Oki with this job in the first place, fires him for insubordination.
Oki meets with his three friends, Jegel, Ben, and Boris, who operate a haunted house ride in the same night market, and pleads with them to let him join as well. Having not much qualification or wit to secure a living via a steady job, the three jobless slackers had started the haunted house business as a last resort to make ends meet. Oki learns that the business has been pretty slow due to age-old methods being ineffective to scare and attract people anymore.
However, all of them have their own differing needs—their own definition of a life they want—and to attain that, they have to get their hands on some hard cash. Oki needs to provide treatment for his ailing mother; Jegel needs to fend off gamblers to whom he owes money; Ben needs money to secure his marriage with his girlfriend Naomi; and Boris needs a lump sum amount to get a job in the military by bribing a dubious ex-serviceman. With the haunted house remaining the only feasible source of income for them, Oki feels the need to renovate the entire set-up, and he does so by temporarily putting his house on mortgage.
How Did the Friends Get Involved in the Death of the Politician?
After the haunted house goes through a splendid makeover, the first customer turns out to be a local political leader named Basuki Munandar, who had entered the ride to hide from his wife while cheating on her with his girlfriend. Unbeknownst to Oki and co., Basuki had a heart condition, and as the renewed scare factor became a little too good, Basuki suffered a heart attack and died. Fearing repercussions, Oki convinces his friends not to go to the authorities, and they bury the politician inside the haunted house. Basuki’s girlfriend, Intan, decides to check up on the haunted house, as she was the one who had suggested he hide there—but as Oki and his friends lie to her, she returns with a dejected mind.
With a conflicted mind, the friends resume their haunted house business the next day and are horrified to learn that the spirit of the deceased politician has started haunting the place for real. However, this actually proves beneficial, as they get the most authentic scare they could have ever hoped for—the customer starts flocking in. Soon enough, business starts booming at an unprecedented rate, allowing the friends to get closer to their respective life goals.
Did the friends manage to escape the authorities?
However, after some time, a full-scale investigation gets launched by local authorities as the politician’s missing status starts making the rounds in news updates. Basuki’s girlfriend, who was suspecting foul play on the part of Oki and his friends, finds proof of Basuki entering the haunted house and confronts them. The situation gets clarified as the friends confess about unwittingly causing the death of the politician, and seeing Intan in a sorry state over her guilt and anxiety, they pity her condition. The friends give her a cut of their earnings and ask her to leave the town for good, and a mute cleaner, Obet, overhears this conversation.
Authorities draw closer as they investigate the night market, and the chief of police, Tohar, gets close to the haunted house receptionist, Marlina. Soon the friends realize that Obet, who knows everything about the death of Basuki, might snitch on them to authorities, and as they try to clarify the situation to him, they unwittingly cause an accident that paralyzes him. The anxiety surrounding the situation gets to the friends, and Ben lashes out on Oki, blaming him for the entire mess. A heartbroken Oki returns to his mother, and an emotional reconciliation follows as Oki’s mother reassures him of her faith in her son. It should be mentioned that, adhering to his mother’s request, Oki had bought a place in the graveyard near his father’s grave.
Did Oki and his friends find the life they wanted?
The friends hit upon a plan to dispose of Basuki’s corpse by taking it to the graveyard and hiding it in the grave of Oki’s mother for the time being. Despite feeling infuriated at first, Oki agrees to the proposal, and later that night, the friends dig up the corpse to enact their plan. On the other hand, by tracing Basuki’s last contact, the authorities led by Tohar get to Intan and pressurize her enough to reveal the truth about the entire situation.
As Oki and his friends prepare to bury the body, Oki receives a call from his sister and breaks down upon learning about the death of his mother. This news forces him to truly re-evaluate his life and decisions, and because he is too distraught, Oki loses any will to evade his fate any longer. As authorities close in, Oki refuses to go and decides to take the blame for the incident on himself. However, his friends stand by him in the direst hour and decide to stay along with him as well, sacrificing the dream of the life they wanted in the process. For covering up Basuki’s death, Oki and his friends get imprisoned for two years.
Two years later, after getting released, Oki, Ben, Jegel, and Boris reconnect with their old lives, and they are surprised to learn nothing much has changed. Oki and Boris get welcomed by their family; Jegel is free of his past ties; and Ben is amused to learn that Naomi had waited for him all the while. The friends visit the grave of Oki’s mother, and the movie ends on a bittersweet note. Oki and his friends were unfortunate victims of circumstances; as fate brought them fortune and took it from them at the same time, they managed to persist by being there for each other. Life goes on, and one way or another, the friends will make it work—as long as they have each other by their sides.
