Hi everyone!
Welcome back to Worldwide Wednesday! If you haven’t heard a peep about this film, you aren’t alone. Every now and again, Netflix debuts a film that flies completely under the radar. However, I suspect this will be the first of many from the Indonesian film scene, which is exciting for me. For a few other recent Netflix Originals, check out “Hold The Dark” (Episode #272), “Quincy” (Episode #270), “The Angel” (Episode #269), and “Nappily Ever After” (Episode #268). No shortage of Netflix Original films nowadays!
And now...
Today’s movie is “The 3rdEye” (2018), as known as “Mata Batin” (2017) the Netflix Original horror film directed by Rocky Soraya and written for the screen in collaboration with Riheam Junianti and Fajar Umbara. The film follows Alia (Jessica Mila), and her younger sister Abel (Bianca Hello), who are reunited after their parents’ sudden death. They move back into their former home, and Abel reveals the curse that has plagued her all her life, the ability to see the dead trapped between this world and the next. And some of those dead have plans for both sisters.
Spoilers ahead.
A little background on Rocky Soraya. He’s a big producer within the Indonesia genre film scene, first as just a producer, then branching out into directing his productions, which contain multiple attempts at finding the right franchise, much like “Paranormal Activity” or “The Purge” in the United States. Low cost, high profit. I’m not that familiar with his work as I probably should be, as my exposure to the Indonesia film scene has been limited to the intense action films with Iko Uwais, who has a film coming this month on Netflix. I suspect if this film is a hit with the Netflix audience, we’ll see quite a few more imports from his extensive back catalogue.
I’m not sure that will happen, however, unless the price is right. One problem with trying to make a low-budget genre franchise is that the most original ideas are the ones that generally succeed, and “The 3rdEye” doesn’t feel all that original. Rather, it feels like the Indonesian version of about three different supernatural horror films, complete with classic jump scares and background imagery. I thought the story, as a whole, was all right, but that it borrowed a lot from similar films. I also found the significance of Davin (Denny Sumargo), Alia’s boyfriend, to be exceedingly convenient, and the stinger scene foreshadowing a sequel to be exceedingly obvious.
Outside of the story, I had this feeling the whole time that I was watching a television movie, which is ironic after my comments for “Hold The Dark” (Episode #272). The opening credits seemed to take forever, and random credits would appear as the story is advancing. The acting felt amateur at times, which is not surprising given the lack of credits for both leading ladies. I really liked the sets, but found them to generally have way too much lighting for a horror film, with very little shadow work, so much light that it blunted the amount of fear or terror I might have experienced. The thing is, despite all these thoughts, I still enjoyed the film, and for genre fans, that generally enough for a recommendation.
“The 3rd Eye” (2018) is a supernatural horror mashup film from Rocky Soraya containing possession, a haunted house, and travels to dreamworlds. It also has a sequel currently being filmed for release later this year, possibly early next year, so whatever you may think, the franchise will continue. Fans of any of the previously mentioned sub-genres of horror should probably queue up this film, and start getting familiar with the Indonesia genre film scene. I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot more.
Rotten Tomatoes: NR
Metacritic: NR
One Movie Punch: 7.0/10
“The 3rd Eye” (2018) is rated TV-MA and is currently streaming on Netflix.
