Dance of Death (Ronggeng Kematian in the local language), directed by Verdi Solaiman, has a simpler plot than most Indonesian (and Southeast Asian) horror. By the time the first act ends, you realize what’s going on and what’s going to happen. And it goes down exactly how you’d expect, but in the final act, the film fully embraces all the tropes this genre carries. I’m separating Southeast Asian horror as a separate sub-genre here that has its own flavor and is not everyone’s cup of tea. Dance of Death has many flaws and doesn’t have a solid narrative, but what saves the film is it making the choice to finish things off in a campy manner by going utterly crazy instead of trying to keep things all serious and broody. We’re going to talk about that here, along with the big reveal of the apparently nice guy not being so nice, if you know what I mean!
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens in the Movie?
Dance of Death opens with the ominous sight of a windmill. In Mangunsari village, something terrible happens on a fateful night when this local man, Imam, gets murdered by someone. Before his death, we see Imam is looking for someone named Sulastri, enters a house. We see another man as well, Wongso, who seems to be completely crazy and infatuated by Sulastri, whom he claims to be his future wife, being scoffed at by Imam.
Seven years later, while returning from school on her graduation day, Larasati, aka Ras, takes the shortcut to her home through the jungle and stumbles upon a radio and a red shawl. The shawl belongs to Sulastri, who died on that fateful night, but her body was never found. The movie doesn’t take much time to bring in the supernatural element as Larasati gets possessed by the shawl and acquires Sulastri’s skill as a Ronggeng dancer. Soon it becomes clear that Sulastri was something of a legend of the village, and her Ronggeng dancing was a thing of wonder. Since her death, her mother, Mrs. Menur, who’s a dance teacher, has been trying to find a dancer who would match Sulastri, but there hasn’t been anyone yet. Seeing her daughter dancing just like Sulastri used to do once upon a time, Larasati’s mother gets elated and takes her to Mrs. Menur. A possessed Larasati manages to tell Mrs. Menur that Sulastri is inside a well in the forest, which leads to Mrs. Menur figuring out what really happened to her daughter. Larasati getting possessed is treated in a very casual manner in this narrative, and it can happen anytime, without a cue, which is sometimes annoying and sometimes fun. Meanwhile, Larasati is in a relationship with Hadi, who’s the son of the local head of the sub-district office, Mr. Marto.
Who Are The Four Young Men And Why Are They Coming To The Village?
Half an hour into the movie, and you’re introduced to these four young men from Jakarta: Aditya, aka Adit, Yudianto, aka Yudi, Ricky, aka Key, and Aksan, aka San. They’re coming to take an award from the villagers for something they did seven years ago. Remember the windmill from the first scene? That thing was built by these four geniuses. But that’s not all. These are the four douchebags who’re responsible for what happened to Sulastri and Imam. I mean, the movie doesn’t spell it out for us, but it’s not hard to figure out. The second time around in the village, they receive an ominous welcome from Wongso, in the middle of the jungle. That doesn’t bother them much, as they already knew him from before. At the sub-district office, Mr. Marto, Hadi, Larasati, and Mrs. Menur, along with the other villagers, welcome them. Mr. Marto lets them know that the guest house has been set up for their stay; Larasati and Hadi are going to take them there. Yes, it’s the same guest house that we see in the beginning (where Imam enters on that fateful night). While Adit and Yudi appear to be nice and gentlemanly, Ricky takes no time to hit on Larasati, acting like the entitled piece of garbage that he is.
However, when the four are alone, it is revealed that they don’t know which one of them actually killed Sulastri and Imam on that night. They were all drunk, and anything could have happened, but they don’t know for sure. This is an aspect the movie could have played with a bit, but all it could come up with is teaming up Adit with Yudi and Ricky with San and pitting them against one another. Ricky finds their college association pin inside the bathroom, which makes his belief of Adit and Yudi being the real culprits stronger. It doesn’t take much for San to be convinced as well. Meanwhile, Adit goes to the top of the hills with Yudi in order to find a signal and call his fiancee, Alicia. Wongso appears out of nowhere and destroys Adit’s cellphone. On their way back, the two of them accidentally come across the well where they once threw the bodies of Imam and Sulastri. Adit tries to convince Yudi that they’re not guilty, as they only tried to cover up the crime of Ricky and San. Later that night, a possessed Larasati attacks Ricky and almost chokes him to death, following which an ugly fight breaks up between San and Adit, with them accusing each other about what they did to Sulastri. San gets triggered when Adit taunts him with how he failed to control his lust and ended up marrying the girl he once impregnated. Yudi plays mediator and angrily tells the two guys to just be done with the award ceremony the day after and get on with their lives. Of course, we know for a fact his wish isn’t going to come true, as it shouldn’t!
Who Killed Sulastri?
It had to be “I’m a nice guy,” right? From the beginning, Adit had this holier than thou attitude and a superiority complex over Ricky and San, and also Yudi. A guy like that wouldn’t have any problem throwing his friends under the bus, which gets proven when he meets Hadi and Mr. Marto in confidence and lets them know that Yudi, Ricky, and San did all the terrible things to Sulastri and Imam, and he couldn’t do anything as they’d threatened to kill him. At the award ceremony, the villagers take care of those three by drugging them with a special concoction, which effectively makes them see Sulastri’s ghost and succumb to her. Yudi, Ricky, and San’s bodies are thrown into the same well where they once put Sulastri and Imam. Adit gets away, hoping to find his happily ever after.
But a guy like Adit clearly doesn’t deserve one, especially given he was the one who actually raped and murdered Sulastri for refusing his advances, and then Imam, who became an unavoidable causality. The other three were drunk and passed out, and Adit made them believe that it could have been any of them. He was very much aware of everything all along, but the incessant urge to play the “nice guy” was uncontrollable after all! Does that mean Yudi, Ricky, and San don’t deserve to die? Absolutely not, given they became part of the crime when they decided to cover it up and ran away. Even years later, Ricky gave the clear impression of being one of those men with a very “rapey” vibe. Yudi did seem like a guy who cares, but he shouldn’t be given the benefit of the doubt. Not to mention, Sulastri was not fully dead and sought help right before she was thrown into the well, but Yudi ignored that.
That said, Adit deserved worse, and Dance of Death makes sure he gets it. The moment you see Hadi and Larasati at Adit’s wedding, you know his doom is near. Even after everything, Adit happens to have the audacity to let his father-in-law know that he can “arrange” Larasati for a private ceremony, strictly for influential men. Thankfully, before he gets the chance to do that, he receives his punishment in the worst possible manner—his new bride getting possessed by Sulastri and Adit ending up brutally killing his newly married wife, thinking it was Sulastri. It is bothersome that the movie didn’t hesitate to kill an innocent person in order to punish the villain, but then again, cinema doesn’t have a responsibility to be righteous. Watching Adit hang himself to death has to be a satisfactory climax, I must say. Last but not least, the Wongso twist—where it gets revealed that he actually killed himself after what happened to Sulastri and was a ghost for the entire timeline of Dance of Death—was pretty cool but ultimately pointless.
