The Elixir Review: Kimo Stamboel’s Otherwise Technically Proficient Zombie Horror Suffers From a Hollow Storytelling
Kimo Stamboel, who is no stranger to the horror genre, takes on The Elixir, a.k.a Abadi Nan Jaya — a zombie thriller that brings no fresh perspective other than sticking to the formula. However, the first 30 minutes or so effectively combine the zombie genre with a dysfunctional family drama. Following a promising opening prologue, the movie zeroes in on the estranged family — Rudi (Dimas Anggara), Kenes (Mikha Tambayong) and their son Raihan (Varen Arianda Calief) — who journey back to the village near Yogyakarta to meet Kenes’s father, Sadimin (Donny Damara), regarding the company buyout of Wadi Waras Herbal.
We learn that Sadimin initially wants to sell his company due to losses, only to change his mind after discovering his latest jamu (herbal medicine) works wonders. The jamu in question is what he describes as an “eternal youth potion”, and after consuming one of the sample bottles, he notices significant changes in his appearance, looking all younger than before. Stamboel, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Agasyah Karim and Khalid Kashogi, did a good job building up the family dynamics and their conflict, namely Kenes’s resentment towards her former childhood best friend, Karina (Eva Celia), who has since married her father after her mother died.
What should have been a solid foundation to the movie’s subsequent zombie attack is curiously thrown out of the window once Sadimin experiences severe side effects that turn him into an undead. I was hoping there was a subtle social commentary within its typical zombie trope, but it seems to me that Stamboel is more interested in piling up the rest of his movie with a strictly by-the-numbers formula. Don’t get me wrong, as the movie deserves praise for its impressive makeup and gore effects, while Stamboel sure knows how to ratchet up the tension with enough gritty violence.
If The Elixir is solely judged by its technical perspective, this movie wins hands down, from the aforementioned special effects to the dynamic camerawork, to Patrick Tashadian’s evocative cinematography bringing a striking contrast between the blood-soaked zombie massacre and its picturesque village setting. Unfortunately, there’s only so much a technically proficient zombie horror can do because frankly, it isn’t enough to offset the movie’s glaring flaws.
The movie runs at nearly two hours, which wouldn’t be an issue if the story had enough weight to sustain its momentum. Instead, I can’t help finding that the survival angle just goes on and on, with the characters making stupid decisions every now and then. At one point, there’s a scene that gets on my nerves, watching one of the characters losing patience, resulting in the person honking the car repetitively, even though the zombies are in front of them. A scene like this would have been justifiable if such an action was meant to create a diversion for a good reason, say, saving someone who’s been hiding nearby but unable to escape.
Although the surviving characters do gradually learn about how to counter these zombies, the movie eventually overstays its welcome, thanks to its unnecessarily lengthy runtime. Perhaps a tighter edit from trimming the movie down to a modest 90 minutes might help, especially if the story doesn’t have anything interesting to say. Not to mention the erratic pace and shallow characters further dilute the intensity of this zombie movie.
Given the titular elixir causing the side effects, it’s a pity that the movie uses it as a mere MacGuffin or more appropriately, an excuse to trigger the zombie genre. With no backstory and again, a social commentary, what we have left here is a disappointingly hollow story of watching the characters trying to survive the ordeal with all the running and screaming ad nauseam.
The Elixir is currently streaming on Netflix.
