Borderless Fog is a gripping movie on Netflix set on the Indonesia-Malaysia border. This region is home to various immigrant communities like the Malay, Dayak, and Chinese people. The cultural and local tensions here are intense, and it shows in the movie’s chilling storyline of a series of gruesome murders. These murders are brutal, with bodies found beheaded and heads attached to different bodies, almost like the killer is putting on a morbid performance to make a point. The local people blame Ambong, the spiritual god of the forest, for these horrific acts. But the truth is darker—these are revenge crimes by people fighting against oppression and injustice. The story kicks off dramatically with a body falling from the sky, and in a twisted artistic display, the head on it belongs to someone else. This bizarre scene prompts the police to call in Detective Sanja Arunika from Jakarta. She arrives to uncover the truth behind the murders and to delve into the mysteries, corruption, and secrets the locals are hiding behind the guise of the spiritual folklore stories of Ambong.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did they want to find out about Mr. Agam?
Inspector Panca and Inspector Thomas, along with the new detective in town, Sanja, were trying to solve the mystery of the decapitated body. They found out that the head belonged to Thoriq Hardian, a sergeant working on border patrol, and the body was of Juwing, a Dayak activist. The killer had preserved the bodies, planning to make a spectacle of them by showing that if the chaos in the community continued, so would the killings. The Dayak people often felt ignored and oppressed. They tried to file complaints about their horrible treatment, but the police, especially Inspector Panca, didn’t seem to care. Some even suspected that the police were involved, and they weren’t wrong. Little girls had been taken from their homes, and the people couldn’t do anything about it. As Sanja gathered information about the murders, she discovered that many girls were being sold into human trafficking by a woman named Umi. This woman gained the girls’ trust by finding them work in local shops, then sold them for money. One stormy night, when Umi was trying to sell some girls, she was attacked, and her severed head was later found by the locals. The police found a phone in her mouth that led them to a man named Mr. Agam, a local crime lord. Mr. Agam had connections with Thoriq and Juwing; they all had pictures with him. This meant that these men were somehow working for Mr. Agam in exchange for money. Sanja knew they had to find Mr. Agam to stop the crimes and uncover the truth.
How did Panca fool the locals?
Panca’s actions showed the betrayal of trust by law enforcement. While the community hoped for justice and support, Panca’s priorities were solely focused on self-interest and financial gain. He was deeply involved with Mr. Agam, including in extortion and human trafficking. The factory on the outskirts of town was their main spot for trapping and selling little girls. When Sanja tried to solve the case and arrest Mr. Agam, Panca didn’t bother. Even when Mr. Agam tried to bribe Sanja and Thomas to shut them up, Panca still let him go. At first, Sanja didn’t realize how corrupt Panca was because she was dealing with her own past issues. Actually, back in Jakarta, Sanja had run a girl over and hidden the body in her car. Higher-ups, including her father and her subordinates, covered it up to protect her job. Panca knew about this and used it against her every time she questioned him. One day, when a girl named Arum from the human trafficking ring managed to return home and told Sanja about how her own father sold her off and how she was kept in the factory, Sanja went there to investigate. But she was attacked by a masked man who tried to dump her at the factory. It turned out that the attacker was Panca himself.
Thomas saved her, but Panca immediately tried to have Sanja transferred back to Jakarta. Sanja noticed that Panca had used a pen from Mr. Agam’s company and was injured in the leg. So it was clear that Panca was the one who attacked her and wanted to hide his involvement with all the killings and the trafficking. Sanja also trusted Thomas the most, but she discovered that he was also taking money from Panca. Though Thomas had good intentions—being Dayak himself and working in the police, hiding his true identity for the betterment of the community—he was still caught up in the corruption. Eventually, Sanja realized that everyone involved in the trafficking—Uni, Agam, Thoriq, and the others—was part of the problem, except for Juwing, the Dayak activist who stood against it and whose tattooed body was found first. Even though Sanja was transferred, she couldn’t leave without uncovering the truth. With the help of an activist named Silas, she kidnapped Mr. Agam to learn the truth about his connection to Panca. Meanwhile, Thomas felt guilty for not helping Sanja more. He knew how hard she was working and tried to expose Panca’s corruption. But Panca was always one step ahead. He had already informed the police that Mr. Agam had been kidnapped and ordered them to arrest him from Sanja. In the end, Panca shot Thomas and took care of him while pretending to be the hero.
Who was Ambong in this story?
You might be wondering who was behind the bizarre killings—bodies with different heads attached. It turns out it was Mr. Bujang, one of the border checkpoint officers. He saw himself as a follower of the Ambong, the spiritual god of the area. Bujang thought he was the only one who could bring justice to his community, especially after seeing how the police and criminals treated the people, including the little girls being trafficked. Feeling helpless and angry, Bujang chose to preserve the bodies of Juwing and other activists with respect to try to stand up for them. But for those involved in the crimes, he beheaded them one by one. His anger was mostly directed at the police, especially Panca. When Sanja confronted Bujang at the factory, he confessed his deeds. He spared Sanja’s life because he saw she was trying to help the community. However, he had tied up Panca, and, despite Sanja’s efforts to stop him, Bujang beheaded Panca as well. To him, it felt like the spiritual god was guiding him to exact revenge. Even though Sanja tried to capture him, Bujang managed to escape.
You know, it seems like Sanja might have wanted to be punished too at the end by Bujang. She couldn’t forgive herself for her past crime and felt she was no better than the others. Watching everyone else face justice, she might have thought she deserved the same. In the end, Mr. Agam was charged with multiple murders, and Panca, despite being corrupt, was hailed as a hero for supposedly helping catch Agam. The news spread that Agam had committed suicide in his cell. But the real shocker came when Bujang’s beheaded head was found swinging on the open road in a gruesome display. So, who could have done this? One possibility is Silas, a member of the activist group. He might have been so angry about the killings that he wanted to take revenge on Bujang, regardless of any moral justification Bujang had. Another possibility is that the human traffickers saw Bujang as a threat. They might have decided to deal with him in their own brutal way by giving him a taste of his own medicine by beheading him in such a dramatic fashion. Now, it seems Sanja has another mystery to solve. How will she handle this new case and deal with her haunting past? It’s going to be interesting to see how she manages all of this in the future.
