Misteri Jalan Lama

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Sometimes I make a decision to watch a movie based on my 'trust'. It may be the trust on the director, the actors or the producer. Based on my trust to Afdlin Shauki's working mind, I went to watch Misteri Jalan Lama. Afdlin may have said that his latest movie has a sombre tone, different from his other movies, but it didn't make me leave the cinema feeling sombre. Instead, I left feeling entertained.

Two brothers of different personalities undertake a journey back to their hometown for their father's burial. However, in the middle of their journey, they meet with an unexpected accident (not a car accident, ya). Lost, or so they seem, they try to resume their journey despite encountering mysterious people and creatures beyond their (and our) understanding. But finally, we will come to understand the story. It's quite a straight-forward one, actually. Indra and Ilya are the brothers grimm. However, Indra has been estranged from his family for a long time. When their father passed away because of a car accident which happened mysteriously, Indra received a letter previously written by his father to drive Ilya back to their village. Prior to the accident, his father left Ilya a birthday present (which is supposedly to be on the next day, he will be 25), and the present being a strange looking locket. When Ilya hold the locket, it shines and made Ilya sees some kind of vision that he cannot understand. And so, the journey. Indra is portrayed as an ex-car racer turned loser who's always in trouble due to his gambling habits. Ilya is the hope of the family and he helps his father's company to grow and succeed. However, Ilya has several health problems and he also cannot drive. That's why they have to go back together. An unfortunate event caused them to lost their car and they have to continue on foot. In the middle of the forest, scary things happen as well as encounters with two different kinds of ghostly creatures. They seem to be waiting for them, but each with different intentions. What are those creatures? How are they related to the brothers? What is the secret behind the locket...and their father's instruction? We would know it at the end of the movie. But we would have guessed it as the story goes on. We would wonder, does this person actually knows more than what he seems to show?

The story? Quite straight-forward as I have said before and understandable. The actors? Great, the two male leads are not disappointing. The dialogues? Nice and at some point, can make you laugh. Yup, some scenes that are meant to be scary, they do scare me. There are elements of surprise. And some dialogues that are meant to be funny, they do made me laugh. However, I'm kinda intrigued by the scenes at the climax of the story. There is a war. There is suspense. However, I couldn't stand the costume. It made me laugh. Oh, Afdlin...are the costumes meant to make us laugh? Because I did. Personally, I think he could make the costume better and nicer, I think the scenes there deserve more serious tone and perhaps induce some jaw-dropping moments from the audience.

But anyway, a good and entertaining movie. An mystery-fantasy tale of two brothers.