Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts is a 2017 Indonesian drama film directed by Mouly Surya and written by Surya and Rama Adi, based on a story conceived by Garin Nugroho. The film has been described as a "Satay Western", combining aspects of the feminist Western genre with an Indonesian setting. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. The song "Lazuardi" from the soundtrack is composed and performed by Jakarta indie rock bandEfek Rumah Kaca. It was selected as the Indonesian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
Plot
In the first act, The Robbery, the film opens on the island of Sumba with Marlina grieving her late husband. A group of seven men, led by the aged Markus, arrive at her house intent on robbing Marlina of her livestock and raping her. They demand to be fed dinner, and she takes the opportunity to poison most of the robbers with chicken soup and decapitate Markus. She burns Markus' musical instrument, a jungga. In the second act, The Journey, she hitches a ride on the local bus where she encounters the pregnant Novi, on the way to find her jealous husband Umbu before she delivers. They are joined by an old woman with a dowry payment of two horses on the way to her nephew's wedding. Along the way, two of the other robbers discover the deaths and chase after Marlina. They hijack the bus, but Marlina escapes with one of the horses. Along the way, Marlina is haunted by a headless apparition playing the jungga. In the third act, The Confession, she arrives at the local police station and delivers a report of the robbery, rape, and her self-defense. The police accept the report but insist that they can't proceed for at least a month while they wait for funds to purchase rape test equipment. Marlina bonds with a young girl in a local warung. In the fourth act, The Birth, Novi finally finds Umbu. He, believing that a breech baby is a sign of infidelity, hits her and leaves her to be found by Franz, who threatens her into luring Marlina back to the house. The three meet at the house, and Novi's water breaks. She considers killing Franz, but takes pity on him. Franz reunites the head of Markus with his corpse and places him beside Marlina's mummified husband. While Novi cooks chicken soup for him under duress, he rapes Marlina and Novi decapitates him. She then gives birth. Marlina and Novi leave the house in the morning together with the child.
Cast
Marsha Timothy as Marlina
Yoga Pratama as Franz
Egy Fedly as Markus
Dea Panendra as Novi
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 98% based on 42 reviews, and an average rating of 7.81/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Subversive, gorgeously shot, and suitably visceral, Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts injects timely feminist themes into a neo-western grindhouse framework." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The Jakarta Post's reviewer Stanley Widianto called the film "one hell of a ride" arguing that its similarities to the "spaghetti western trope" film making style rightfully earns :id:Mouly Surya|Surya's third feature film the distinction of being Indonesia's "first satay Western film".
