If movies could be reported as missing persons, Redemption of Sin would’ve been filed under “last seen wandering aimlessly in the dark, muttering plot points nobody understands.” Yosep Anggi Noen’s 2024 Indonesian mystery horror promises intrigue, emotional depth, and supernatural chills… and then delivers something closer to a group project gone wrong, where everyone wrote their section without consulting anybody else.
This is the cinematic equivalent of going on a spiritual journey and realizing halfway through you mistakenly walked into a mediocre escape room run by people who have never escaped anything in their entire lives.
🎥 The Premise: A Missing Daughter… and Also Apparently a Missing Script
We follow Wening (Happy Salma), a grief-stricken mother searching for her missing daughter. Sounds simple, right? Touching. Emotional. Grounded.
But don’t worry — the movie immediately says “nope” and spins so fast it makes your neck pop. Suddenly she’s joined by:
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Tetsuya, a Japanese researcher who may or may not actually be researching anything
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Tirta, a horror podcaster whose contribution to the case is roughly equivalent to someone yelling “OMG WHAT WAS THAT???” in a dark hallway
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and a rotating cast of people who pop in like they’re auditioning for a completely different film
It’s as if the script was assembled using the human version of those little paper fortune tellers kids make in elementary school:
Pick a triangle: Missing daughter.
Pick a color: Japanese dude.
Pick a number: Horror podcast!
Outcome: You’re cursed with a confusing movie.
🎭 The Characters: Lost, Confused, and Possibly Held Hostage By the Plot
Wening (Happy Salma)
A mother who deserves an award simply for managing to look like she knows what’s happening. She spends the entire movie with the same expression: “I should’ve stayed home.”
Happy Salma tries her best, truly. The woman is acting for her life. But the script treats her like a GPS that keeps screaming “RECALCULATING” every five minutes.
Tirta (Putri Marino)
A horror podcaster who thinks she’s hosting Ghost Adventures: Neighborhood Edition. Her investigative methods include:
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making shocked faces
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holding microphones dramatically
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and nearly dying for content
Honestly, she behaves exactly like the type of person who would hear a demonic whisper in a haunted forest and say:
“Wait—let me get better audio.”
Tetsuya (Shogen)
A Japanese researcher whose main research seems to be studying how long he can stand in a scene without saying anything meaningful. His entire vibe is:
“I moved to Indonesia for THIS?”
He’s supposed to be mysterious, but mostly he just looks jetlagged.
🧙♂️ The Horror: More Confusing Than Scary
Let’s talk scares. Actually, let’s talk about how there are scare shapes. Scare suggestions. Scare vibes. But not actual scares.
The movie is full of:
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ominous chanting that sounds like the audio engineer forgot to mute a background track
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sudden camera pans to empty doorways (the horror!!)
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shadows that move slightly, possibly due to a production assistant bumping the light
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and a lot of people staring at nothing, reacting to nothing, and being terrified of… you guessed it… nothing
If you’ve ever had sleep paralysis and saw a pile of clothes in the dark and thought it was a demon, congratulations — you’ve experienced more horror than this entire movie.
🧠 The Mystery: A Puzzle With Missing Pieces and No Final Picture
The film wants to be an emotional supernatural mystery drama with religious themes, cultural depth, and a philosophical message about guilt.
Instead, it plays like a fever dream written by someone who read half a Wikipedia page about indigenous rituals and said, “Good enough.”
Plot threads are introduced, abandoned, resurrected, forgotten, then tossed back in like leftover noodles reheated one too many times.
Every revelation feels like it belongs to another film entirely:
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Is the daughter kidnapped?
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Is she possessed?
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Is she a ghost?
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Is she a metaphor??
The film answers these questions with a firm, unwavering:
“Yes. No. Maybe. Shut up.”
By the end, the audience isn’t satisfied — they’re exhausted, confused, and Googling the director’s interviews hoping for a cheat code.
🎬 Pacing: Slower Than a Haunted Internet Connection
Imagine waiting 95 minutes for a plot twist, only to receive the storytelling equivalent of a shrug. Scenes drag, not because they’re suspenseful, but because characters appear physically incapable of walking with purpose.
The editing feels like the editor took a personal vow to keep every shot, no matter how irrelevant.
There’s a scene where someone opens a door…
very slowly…
then nothing happens…
then they close the door…
even slower.
Horror should have tension — not constipation.
🗣️ The Dialogue: Every Line Sounds Like It Was Written at 4AM
The characters frequently say things like:
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“There are forces we cannot understand.”
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“The truth is deeper than the shadows.”
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“We must follow the path of sin to find redemption.”
Which sounds profound until you realize it has the same emotional impact as a fortune cookie written by someone going through a breakup.
👻 Supernatural Elements: Spiritually Confusing, Religiously Vague
The film tries to blend Indonesian folklore with metaphysical horror, but it’s done with all the grace of someone mixing drinks blindfolded:
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half cultural symbolism
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half demon mythology
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half missing-child procedural
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half paranormal podcast episode
Yes, that’s four halves. Because the movie also forgets how math works.
Nothing connects cleanly. The ghosts are aimless. The rituals feel improvised. And the supernatural worldbuilding is thinner than a horror podcaster’s credibility.
🔚 The Ending: A Plot Twist So Underwhelming It Should Apologize
The final reveal is supposed to be emotional, shocking, and cathartic.
Instead, it plays like the director whispered to the audience:
“Okay, I ran out of ideas. Go home.”
Loose ends remain loose. Characters stare meaningfully at nothing. And the missing daughter’s story concludes with all the dramatic force of a wet sponge hitting a carpet.
⭐ Final Verdict: Redemption of Sin Needs Redemption of Script
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ (3/10)
One star for effort.
Two stars for the cast trying desperately to keep this ship afloat.
Minus seven stars for everything else.
Redemption of Sin is a film where nothing quite works:
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The mystery isn’t mysterious.
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The horror isn’t horrifying.
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The plot isn’t plotted.
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And the redemption never redeems anything.
It’s the cinematic equivalent of staring into the void…
and the void shrugging back.
