Main cast: Mikha Tambayong (Kenes), Eva Celia (Karina), Marthino Lio (Bambang), Dimas Anggara (Rudi), Varen Alianda Calief (Raihan), Ardit Erwandha (Rahman), Claresta Taufan (Ningsih), Donny Damara (Sadimin), Kiki Narendra (Aris), Vonny Anggraini (Mbok Sum), Hingka Moedra (Pardi), Putri Permata (Imah), and Gendhis Maharany (Suji)
Director: Kimo Stamboel

For a long time now, the US has been heavily borrowing horror tropes from Asian cinema — ahem, James Wan, we see you— so it’s probably fair play for the Indonesians to faithfully recreate every single zombie movie trope from the US and transplant them wholesale into The Elixir, or Abadi Nan Jaya (which apparently means roughly “Successful Eternity” according to Mrs Giggles).

A failing big pharmaceutical company has created a special elixir that promises to reverse aging.

Naturally, instead of testing it on mice, monkeys, or literally any animal models like responsible scientists, they ship one directly to the CEO, Sadimin, because… cost-cutting measures? Streamlined testing protocols? “Why waste money on lab rats when we can just give experimental age-reversal drugs directly to our billionaire CEO? What could possibly go wrong?”

Sadimin has a lot of family drama, because no zombie movie is complete without dysfunctional family dynamics. He married the much younger Karina, whom his adult children aren’t fond of. His daughter Kenes and her husband Rudi are on the rocks, and she’s hoping to divorce him for being a cheating SOB and gain custody of their son Raihan after Daddy Dearest sells the company and divides the money.

Meanwhile, Sadimin’s son Bambang just wants to play video games all day, which is relatable. Bambang is the only person in this family with his priorities straight.

So, when Sadimin drinks the elixir and suddenly looks a few decades younger, he decides to keep the company after all because it’s going to make bank selling this miracle drug. This understandably sets off his money-hungry children, who were already planning their shopping sprees.

Sadimin ends their bickering in style by becoming a zombie and killing the butler and maids.
Why did he become a zombie? Who knows, as the elixir was supposed to reverse aging, not turn people into flesh-eating monsters, but I guess that’s what happens when you skip the clinical trials. Side effects may include younger appearance, insatiable hunger for human flesh, death of household staff.

What follows is the rest of the family getting separated, as staying together would be too easy, and trying to reunite while the entire neighborhood becomes increasingly overrun by zombies. And these zombies transform fast. We’re talking within what seems like a few minutes, so slow burn here.

To its credit, this movie delivers in terms of:

• Gore — plenty of it
• Suspense — will they survive? Probably not!
• Action — running, screaming, more running
• Special effects — not too shabby, actually

It’s an adequate zombie flick, and even the presence of dubbing or subtitles for non-Indonesian markets shouldn’t be a deterrent. The plot is basically “zombies kill people, people flee” — most people should get that, even without dialogue.

However, one really needs to stop thinking while watching this movie because it is super-powered by the stupidity of practically every adult in the cast. We’re talking Darwin Awards-level decision-making here.

• Cops armed to the teeth somehow forget they’re carrying guns and die in the most pathetic manner possible. “Oh no, zombies! If only we had some kind of… weapon… oh well, guess it’s time to die.”
• Our intrepid family knows that sound attracts zombies, so naturally they decide to call others and tell them to honk the car horns. Guess what happens. If you guessed “zombies immediately swarm them, congratulations, you’re smarter than everyone in this movie.
• They discover that rain paralyzes zombies. Don’t ask why, you won’t get answers, just accept it. Instead of staying put in their nice barricaded safe location until the next time it rains — and it’s Indonesia, so it shouldn’t take too long — they decide to dash outside into zombie-infested territory.

On and on and on. These monumentally dumb moves are great for keeping the plot moving and keeping the zombies well-fed, but they can be absolutely brutal on the brains of audience members who are foolish enough to pay attention to logic or internal consistency.

So, watch this movie if you like Asian horror and zombie tropes, as long as you can also completely shut off your brain in the process. Thinking is the enemy. Logic will only hurt you. Just enjoy the gore, the action, the zombies, and the spectacle of watching people make the worst possible decisions at every opportunity.