Sleep Call - Not Bad for a Psychological Thriller Even Though it Might be a bit Predictable

When this movie was released a week ago on Prime Video, I was still continuing other series and also busy with other matters. Last night I finally made up my mind to watch it as I was intrigued with the premise. So here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Dina (Laura Basuki - Berbalas Kejam, The Returning etc) was a young woman caught in the debt trap after having to finance the medication of her mother (Jenny Zhang - Sri Asih, Bidadari Mencari Sayap etc). She had no choice but to work with the online loan company where she owed to, under the supervision of Bayu (Kristo Immanuel - The Big 4 etc) and their boss Tommy (Bront Palarae - Pengabdi Setan 2: Communion, My Stupid Boss etc). Dina also work with other colleagues including her best friend Bella (Della Dartyan - The Day Before the Wedding etc).

Between the pressure at work and her stressful situation, Dina only find solace through a guy she found in dating platform called Rama (Juan Bio One - Balada Si Roy etc) and they always did video call every night. However, it would seem to be a toxic relationship as Rama might not be the perfect guy Dina thought of.

So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

You know I actually had quite high hopes watching this one as I remember reading some comments that it was unusual genre for Indonesian movie, plus it also received few award nominations. Since I already knew that it was a psychological thriller, I understand the slow pace in the beginning (despite the early shocking scene). But as I continued watching, I found myself to be a bit confused with the sequence. It was a bit challenging to understand the story as it seemed to be jumping back and forth without knowing whether it was in the present, or flash back or actually just a dream. 

And there seemed to be unclarity of where the story was heading. Not until almost half way that I could finally understand. But by then I could immediately guess the ending. And when the twist was finally revealed, I no longer felt surprised. It was sad though as I expected some kind of different twist that would blow my mind, but it failed to materialize. Not sure if it was because I have seen too many such films or series that I was able to guess it. Nevertheless, I still applaud the willingness of the filmmaker to be anti mainstream instead of just making the generic horror or teen romance movies that have been flooding the Indonesian theaters in the past. Too bad commercially it did not really make a splash, but at least it got a bit of recognition by Indonesian Festival Film committee. 

The film's main strength was Laura Basuki's appearance who even got nominated for best actress. I was a bit surprised seeing how she had the bravery to perform in this kind of role, not to mention doing few sex scenes. So yeah this is definitely not for kids, especially with violent scenes and a bit of profanity as well. Aside from Laura, I do not think other cast were impressive enough. Perhaps only Bront Palarae was convincing as the really sleazy boss, and maybe 1 or 2 of the colleagues who brought some lightness in an otherwise dark tone. And what's with the casting of Kristo Immanuel as Bayu? I thought he was not the perfect guy in playing such character. I also thought that scene involving the employees during the party in Tommy's house was not necessary.

I personally feel that the duration was a bit too long (100 minutes). It did not have any mid or post end credit scene. It has an OK but a rather ambiguous ending which seemed to be intentional by the director Fajar Nugros (Srimulat: Hil yang Mustahal Babak Pertama, Yowis Ben trilogy etc) who also wrote this together with Husein M. Atmojo. Overall to me this was still OK enough for an Indonesian psychological thriller movie. It might not be of the highest quality but still the attempt in making it need to be appreciated. I for one would love to see more of such in the future. So if you want to see a different kind of Indonesian movie, then you could give it a try. It's now available on Prime Video.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars