The Doll That Cried “Copyright Infringement”
Let’s get one thing straight: Sabrina is not just a bad horror movie—it’s a cinematic séance where the ghost of Annabelleis summoned, stripped of its dignity, and forced to speak Indonesian. Directed by Rocky Soraya, who apparently believes jump scares are a valid substitute for storytelling, Sabrina is a film that tries to terrify but ends up feeling like a haunted episode of Sesame Street.
This 2018 Indonesian horror flick gives us a possessed doll, a family secret, and a demon named Baghiah who must be furious that it got stuck in such a bad script. The end result is a movie so chaotic it could make The Room look like The Exorcist.
Plot? More Like “Poltergeist Soup”
The movie begins with Vanya, a young girl mourning her dead mother, Andini. She’s living with her Uncle Aiden and Aunt Maira, whose marriage seems built on emotional repression and cheap doll manufacturing. Aiden runs a toy company—because in horror films, all evil apparently stems from plastic.
Trying to cheer Vanya up, the couple gift her the titular Sabrina doll, which looks like someone ordered “Annabelle but cuter” from Wish. The doll’s face alone could clear a room faster than a fire alarm.
Unfortunately, Vanya, like most horror movie children, decides that messing with the spirit world is a great idea. Her classmate gives her a Charlie Charlie board (the off-brand Ouija for kids on a budget), and she uses it to contact her late mother. Naturally, she forgets to close the ritual properly, which is Horror Movie Rule #1 in the handbook titled “How to Invite Demons into Your House Without Even Trying.”
Cue flickering lights, demonic whispers, and Sabrina suddenly developing the personality of a sociopath.
The Family That Screams Together… Screams Together
Aiden and Maira, bless their clueless hearts, decide the best way to solve their niece’s demonic doll problem is to go on vacation. Because nothing cures spiritual possession like a weekend getaway.
It’s during this trip that the ghost of Andini starts making cameos like she’s auditioning for The Real Housewives of the Afterlife. When she’s not staring ominously in mirrors, she’s reminding everyone that therapy would’ve been a cheaper solution.
Things escalate when Maira hires a pair of demonologists, Laras and Bagas—essentially the Indonesian discount versions of Ed and Lorraine Warren, except with better cheekbones and worse dialogue. They’re supposed to help banish Andini’s spirit, but in the process, they discover the real entity haunting everyone is a demon named Baghiah, who’s less “Lord of Hell” and more “angry extra from a K-pop video.”
Baghiah’s plan? To possess people, cause some murders, and ruin everyone’s family legacy. Honestly, same.
The Twist That Nobody Asked For
Just when you think Sabrina can’t get any messier, the film adds a twist so convoluted it should come with a PowerPoint presentation. Turns out, Aiden—the uncle who looks permanently guilty—made a deal with a shaman to murder his own brother for corporate control of their toy company.
Yes, you read that correctly: this man unleashed a literal demon for a bigger share of a doll factory. Capitalism truly is the real horror.
Of course, Aiden’s selfishness leads to his wife dying, his niece being possessed, and eventually his arrest. Honestly, it’s what he deserves. By the end, even the demon seems tired of dealing with this family’s nonsense.
The Acting: Possessed, But Not in a Good Way
It’s hard to criticize the cast because they’re clearly doing their best with material that sounds like it was written during a caffeine overdose. Luna Maya (as Maira) alternates between looking terrified and confused about which camera she’s supposed to scream at. Christian Sugiono (Aiden) plays guilt like he’s in a shampoo commercial for remorse.
Richelle Georgette Skornicki, as little Vanya, deserves an award for keeping a straight face while acting opposite a demonic doll that looks like it was sculpted from Play-Doh. Her range of emotions—sad, scared, and mildly allergic—is the most believable part of the film.
And then there’s Laras and Bagas, the psychic duo who deliver every line as if they’re explaining tax law to ghosts. Their scenes of chanting and waving incense are meant to be spooky but end up looking like an especially intense aromatherapy session.
The Demon: Baghiah, Lord of Exposition
Baghiah, our film’s resident evil spirit, should be terrifying. Instead, he spends half the movie explaining his own backstory like a bored museum guide. “I was once banished… but now I return for vengeance!” he announces, sounding like he’s rehearsing for a middle school play.
His design is a mix between The Nun and someone who fell into a vat of black paint. He appears in bursts of CGI smoke, usually right before the camera cuts away to save on special effects costs. The scariest thing about Baghiah is how often he forgets his own motivations. Does he want revenge? A new body? A better script? Even he seems unsure.
The Scares: More Noise Than Nightmare
Rocky Soraya’s direction can best be described as “what if we replace tension with volume?” Every supposed scare comes with a jump cut so loud it could wake the dead—and possibly the neighbors.
Doors slam, dolls twitch, lights flicker, and violins screech like they’re auditioning for a Saw sequel. The film doesn’t build atmosphere—it just attacks your eardrums until you mistake shock for fear.
The “scary” moments are so predictable you could set your watch to them. If someone opens a closet, a ghost will appear. If someone walks backward in a dark hallway, a hand will grab them. And if you start to care about a character, don’t worry—they’ll die within ten minutes.
The Editing: Possessed by Confusion
At times, Sabrina feels like it was edited by an actual demon. Scenes fade in and out like a telenovela having an identity crisis. The pacing lurches from snail-like exposition to frantic exorcisms that feel like they were filmed during an earthquake.
The film even manages to make possession scenes boring. Characters scream, convulse, and levitate—but it’s shot so awkwardly that it looks less like supernatural terror and more like an avant-garde dance rehearsal.
The Moral: Don’t Summon Spirits, or Buy Creepy Dolls
In the end, Sabrina isn’t just a horror film—it’s a cautionary tale about why you shouldn’t buy knockoff toys or play occult games unsupervised. The movie desperately wants to be about grief and redemption, but it ends up being about poor parenting and worse life choices.
After Aiden’s arrest and Baghiah’s defeat, Maira becomes Vanya’s adoptive mom, the doll is presumably still haunted, and Laras and Bagas wander off to “solve another case,” which I assume means haunting another unlucky Netflix queue.
If this was meant to set up a sequel, the real horror is that it probably did.
Final Verdict: Plastic Terror, Genuine Headache
Sabrina wants to be The Conjuring but ends up as The Confusing. It’s a mashup of better movies, held together by cheap scares, loud noises, and one very unconvincing doll.
The film’s attempts at emotional depth fall flatter than the doll’s expression, and the script’s twists pile up faster than the body count. By the time the credits roll, you’ll be less scared than exhausted—like you’ve just survived a haunted amusement park staffed entirely by interns.
Final Score: 1.5 out of 5 Possessed Dolls
If you enjoy movies that are technically about horror but mostly about bad decisions, Sabrina is your perfect nightmare. Everyone else should just say “goodbye, Charlie” and move on with their lives.
