Sightlines · reception

How Impetigore was received

2019 · Joko Anwar · Impetigore on Sightlines

The arc

It premiered at Sundance Midnight in January 2020 with real festival heat, then its Shudder release that summer turned it into a lockdown-era discovery — now it's cited as a cornerstone of the Indonesian horror wave breaking internationally.

What’s debated

The perennial fan debate is whether it or Satan's Slaves is Joko Anwar's masterpiece — plus a split over whether the slow-burn village stretch pays off or stalls the momentum of that ferocious opening.

Its footprint

The toll-booth cold open is the film's calling card — endlessly brought up in reviews and 'best horror openings' threads — and its wayang kulit shadow-puppet imagery became shorthand for the new wave of folk horror rooted in local tradition.

Where it stands

A fixture of 2020 best-horror lists and the go-to 'start here' recommendation when horror fans ask where to begin with Indonesian cinema.

Did you know? Impetigore was Indonesia's official submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature — a rare case of a country sending a straight-up horror film to the Oscars — and it swept the 2020 Citra Awards, winning Best Picture.