Main cast: Joe Taslim (Ito), Iko Uwais (Arian), Asha Kenyeri Bermudez (Reina), Sunny Pang (Chien Wu), Salvita Decorte (Shinta), Abimana Aryasatya (Fatih), Zack Lee (White Boy Bobby), Dimas Anggara (Wisnu), Dian Sastrowardoyo (Alma), Hannah Al Rashid (Elena), and Julie Estelle (The Operator)
Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Despite its English title, The Night Comes for Us is mostly in Bahasa Indonesia, with a smattering of Chinese dialects and only a bit of English in between. I’m not sure whether it’s dubbed in the Western market, but don’t worry, this beautifully violent film is such as dismemberment and death are a universal language.
Taking place in Southeast Asia, predominantly in Indonesia, this one revolves around the triad called the Six Seas. Ito is one of the elite assassins of the triad, and when the movie opens, he is sent to kill every single person in a small coastal fishing village, because the Six Seas caught some of these villagers selling some of their drugs to other drug dealers. Ito efficiently kills every one of them until it’s down to one last person: a young girl, Reina. Finally, his conscience kicks in and he kills the man with him before taking off with Reina. This very act of betrayal causes the Six Seas to send another operative to kill him: his old friend Arian, with whom he shared lovely shirtless bonding moments with as they were both indoctrinated into the Six Seas together.
The above paragraph is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to describing the sheer mayhem in this movie. People die – many people, mind you – in spectacularly gory ways, and yet, this movie presents the lovely gore in a way more akin to those old school Hong Kong gangster movies – unrealistic, perhaps, but never cartoon-like or ridiculous. And that’s all that matters, right? This movie has hot male leads – Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais are pure bae material, especially when they are all bloody and battered while being surrounded by violently dismembered corpses, ooh my – and three kick-ass, equally homicidal women who join the fray and make corpses out of those they come across with the rest of the men. Seriously, folks that love violent girl-on-girl action will melt at that scene where the three ladies do their best to kill one another in a scene that culminates with dismembered fingers, intestines falling out of gaping wounds, and more.
The plot is pretty unoriginal, as it is filled with familiar elements such as anti-heroic male protecting a young girl, bros who are forced to try to kill one another, and so forth, but in the end, the plot is just a vehicle for the parade of violence. And it’s fine, fine violence committed by hard-bodied hunks that ooze testosterone as well as hot ladies that don’t hesitate to snap a neck. What more can a fan of such artistic output ask for? Well, a sequel will be a good start.
