Satan’s Slaves 2017

In 1981, a rural Indonesian family faces harsh circumstances: Mawarni Suwono, her husband Bahri Suwono, his mother Rahma Saidah, and their four children—Rini Suwono, Toni Suwono, Bondi Suwono, and Ian Suwono—struggle as Mawarni’s illness worsens and the royalties from her former singing fade away.

After Mawarni dies, the family is consoled by the Ustad and his adult son Hendra Suwono, who have recently moved into the neighborhood. Bahri leaves to raise money for mortgage payments in town, while the house grows quiet and the children start to feel a ghostly presence that seems to echo Mawarni’s absence. Bondi and Rini soon discover Rahma dead inside the family well, a grim sign that deepens the family’s fears.

A hidden letter, unsent and addressed to a man named Budiman, is found on Rahma’s desk. Rini and Hendra take the letter downtown to seek help, and Budiman—a writer who deals in occult lore—reveals unsettling details about a fertility cult that targets barren women who wish to bear children. The caveat, he explains, is chilling: the last child must be surrendered voluntarily in seven years. The family realizes the danger looming over Ian, who will turn seven in three days.

The next day, Bahri decides to move the family to town, hoping a change of place will help. But as night falls, cult members surround the house during a raging storm, and Bahri refuses to give up Ian, prompting the cultists to withdraw—at least for the moment. The moving van fails to arrive the following day, forcing the family to linger one more night under the watchful eye of the Ustad.

Rini finally reads Budiman’s letter, which explains that the cult seeks the “Satan’s own child” and that the visitors’ arrival the previous night was meant to mark the house for the undead who will come for the child. The tension erupts when Mawarni herself returns, along with several pocong, and the Ustad is killed. Ian, who has just turned seven, reluctantly joins Mawarni and the pocong, while Budiman arrives just in time to help evacuate Bahri and the other children.

A year passes, and Bahri and his family live in a small apartment in town. A visitor, Darminah, brings food and later reports to her husband that they must ensure the family never leaves the apartment. She adds a grim warning in the ominous tone of the tale: the harvest continues, and the warning is clear that danger—and perhaps the danger’s children—may return. > time for another harvest