The Womb or Inang is an Indonesian chilling and gore-drenched movie starring Naysila Mirdad, Dimas Anggara, Rukman Rosadi, and Lydia Kandou alongside others. Written by Deo Mahameru, the movie has a runtime of 115 minutes and has been directed by Fajar Nugros, making it his first horror outing.

While the movie doesn’t follow the path constructed by other movies of the same category in terms of its adoption of horror-thriller motifs, its content has still been restricted to adult audiences due to the ample number of gory depictions. It received a theatrical premiere in Indonesia during the latter half of 2022, and has finally made its way to Netflix on February 16, 2023 for global audiences.

Netflix’s offical log-line of the movie reads:

Grappling with an unplanned pregnancy, a woman turns in desperation to mysterious older couple ho promise to take care of her baby.

-The Womb Review Does Not Contain Spoilers-

After getting pregnant out of wedlock, Wulan is left alone to fend for herself as a single mother. Her job in the capital at a supermarket doesn’t quite cut it either. While she turns to her boss and her only friend for help, she only gets pushed aside more. Resorting to a help group for single mothers found on Facebook, she looks out for options to make it work. Ultimately, she decides to give her baby up for adoption to a rather senior but loving couple.

Little does she know that they have a secret of their own, which when unveiled, it wouldn’t be a pretty sight to behold. Nevertheless, putting her faith in them, she moves into their house situated in an isolated location, as such houses always are. While her initial encounter with them remains sweet and heartening, the situation twists around when some unconventional meet-ups start doing their rounds at the Santoso household, making Wulan question her decisions of choosing them as the foster parents of her child.

An encompassing image of the social problems plaguing the Indonesian population closer to the ground finds room in the initial half of the movie, that sports a slow-paced medium to set the tone for horrors to come ahead. An exploitative boss, meagre resources to live on despite working at supposedly reputed supermarket, etc permeate the narrative and Wulan’s life. The overarching plot may be about the struggles faced by a single mother in a society, a real-life horror in itself, but the general haunting tonality of the movie is almost comical in its representation.

The concept and the mythical traditions that tag alone with the story definition provoke a sense of trepidation, but when it actually comes down visually portraying the same, the scale doesn’t match. Ostensibly frighting nightmare sequences may pull out a chuckle out of you, and that in itself acts as the shrouded and unconventional charm of the film that keeps you entertained despite its slow trajectory.

The Womb‘s action is two-fold in the sense that two mothers are tormented by the same terminal threat to their children. In Wulan’s case, this menacing hazard is more direct and urgent since, while for Eva, it’s linked to a mythical distance. The manner in which both these elements play out, question the dual nature of evils present at hand – one, which takes shape in the form of a sinful human beings, and the other that is tied to a supernatural series of events.

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Audiences that are not a fan of horror movies can also indulge themselves with this film, because at large, it doesn’t pan out as the bearer of elements defining his genre of releases. There are no such jump-scares waiting for you in the corner, which derides plot the of any mystical evils out to get the protagonist. The focus is entirely on a somewhat realistically sadistic and humane evil which puts the onus on the people present in the movie (deliberately cut off from the bustle of the city) to generate fearsome qualities, instead of shadowy phantoms hiding in the closet.

The traditional concept of the ‘Wekasan Wednesday’ curse is prevalent in many Indonesian communities, with each of them interpreting it as per their own volition. By tying this notion up with a blood-curdling imagination, the director has similarly left the movie open-ended and open to our valuation, rather than pushing for one side of the narrative in hopes of not wanting to offend either of the sentimentalities.

The Womb: Final Thoughts

Despite it not being heavy on stock scary visuals, Inang is quite explicit in terms of showcasing gore and blood, which may be an unappealing sight for some. While I too was apprehensive of heading into this watching session due to my habitual inability to take the genre the well, I found myself laughing at quite a few junctures of the film’s duration. It makes for a passing fun watch that lightly critiques parental sensibilities, further probing into the symbolism of ‘sacrificial lambs’, and how the ones doing the deed are in turn sacrificing a part of their souls as well.

The general occultist aura of the storyline isn’t necessarily unique, but it doesn’t bore you out either by balancing various themes on a see-saw. However, keeping up with the first-half may be a bit of a task due to its slow-going attitude. Also, a fun fact – Lydia Kandou, playing the role of Eva, the older woman who welcomes Wulan’s character (played by Naysila Mirdad) to her home, is also the younger actress’ mother in real-life.

The Womb is now streaming on Netflix.

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