Skinned Performance: Female Body Horror in Joko Anwar’s Impetigore

Sutandio, Anton (2022) Skinned Performance: Female Body Horror in Joko Anwar’s Impetigore. Rupkatha Journal, 14 (1). pp. 1-12. ISSN 0975-2935

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Abstract

This article discusses the 2019 Indonesian horror film, Impetigore (Perempuan Tanah Jahanam) directed by Joko Anwar. In 2021, Impetigore became the first Indonesian horror film to represent the country at the Academy Awards. This article focuses on the film’s mystification of the female body, which points towards gender relations. This research utilizes the concept of body horror, particularly relating to the skin, gender relations, and wayang mysticism. The findings show that the film metaphorically underlines the ongoing disconcerting perspective of contemporary Indonesian society on women’s embodied agency. The film’s portrayal of non-traditional female characters suggests an attempt to challenge the mainstream patriarchal narrative in contemporary Indonesian horror cinema, and at the same time hints at the perpetuating subjectification of woman’s bodies as a threatening yet desirable agency.

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