Temurun

Temurun is an effective Indonesian horror in its own right, they don’t show much which actually works out in their favor, it doesn’t feel like overkill, much like how I felt watching Mallari (2023). Temurun is translated as “Hereditary” or “Inheritance”. Directed by Inarah Syarafina, Temurun is her first full-length feature film.

The story revolves around a dysfunctional family. A brother and sister, abandoned by their father, left to live with their mother who was mentally ill. Dewi (played by Yasamin Jasem) was left to care for their mother, while Sena (played by Bryan Domani) became the breadwinner of the family. Desperate to earn more, he engaged on some s3xual activities which lead to the unfortunate end of someone close to them. Now they face the mystery and sinister legacy passed down from their extended family.

Characters

• The female lead, Yasamin Jasem (Dewi), was phenomenal. She had raw emotion, showing intense fear during some scenes. Her screams were effective, literally screaming at the top of her lungs, whether it be out of anger or scared shitless to what she sees. She was great, the best among the cast.
• Bryan Domani (Sewi) was okay, his fear wasn’t projected as well as Yasamin’s.
• The mentally ill mother, even with few dialogues, was effective in showing her mentally challenged character, and when she was haunting her daughter, that was creepy as hell. The grandmother, Gayatri (played by Jajang C. Noer) was a perfect choice for the role.

Visual and Sound Effects

Temurun used visual effects sparingly, which I think was a good choice. It didn’t seem tacky, whereas if they overuse VFX, it would look like far worse than a b-horror movie would. The SFX however was great. I love the way they made the sound of blood gurgling, specially when they slit a throat or that scene towards the end.

The song that caught my attention, and most likely by other viewers as well was the one Dewi was playing on her cassette tape player. If you’re wondering what the title of it was, it is “Getaran Cinta – Sari Mila Aini Salis”. Its up on YouTube and Spotify.

What I didn’t like

• There weren’t much information given with regards to the cult and demon behind the family’s “inheritance”. They do give a little insight during the storyline, but not enough for me to actually care about it.
• It was hard to care about the characters, there weren’t enough background and character depth for me to feel attached to a character.
• The abrupt ending ruined all their build up towards it.
• There were too many unnecessary things added that didn’t really do much, in terms of driving the story forward.
• They showed the hand of the demon, black and claw-like, but it never really went anywhere. The demon or “inheritance” was dull and it never rose to the occasion.

Conclusion

Though they cover different topics, I’d pick Sumala (2024) any day. Temurun has been like a wild goose chase. They kept going around, adding one complicated element at a time just to lengthen the duration of it. Its a good one-time watch. It had some good horror moments, but the story was dull and quite predictable. I want to emphasize on this, the ending ruined everything.