"One of the more popular sections of the Chicago International Film Festival each year is the After Dark sidebar, a collection of films from around the world that are just a bit different from the usual fest fare-something a little stranger and wilder and containing plenty of sex, violence, and straight-up weirdness to appeal to viewers with somewhat more outré tastes."
"As the Indonesian gross-out extravaganza "The Book of Sijjin & Illiyyin," which earned director Hadrah Daeng Ratu the Best Director award at the genre-based Fantasia Fest earlier this year, a bizarre incident in a small village has left a couple dead and their young daughter, Yuli (Firzanah Alya), orphaned. Because the dead man had another family before this, Yuli is placed into the care of his former wife, Ambar (Nazi Djenar Maisa Ayu) and while this new family is certainly a step up on a wholly material basis, the majority of them, particularly Ambar, essentially treat Yuli as a servant and never pass up an opportunity to remind her that she is nothing more than a bastard."
"Having borne all of this nastiness for years, Yuli finally snaps and seeks out a local mystic to help put an all-encompassing curse on both Laras and her entire family, most of whom have no animus towards Yuli but who have done nothing to try to stop the abuse."
The After Dark sidebar presents stranger, wilder festival fare showcasing sex, violence, and surreal oddities. An Indonesian entry, The Book of Sijjin & Illiyyin, follows Yuli, a child orphaned by a village tragedy and placed with her father’s former wife. Yuli endures long-term servitude and emotional cruelty, first from Ambar and later from Ambar’s daughter Laras, who becomes more vindictive. After years of abuse, Yuli seeks a local mystic and commissions a particularly horrific curse aimed at Laras and the wider family. The film blends gross-out spectacle with folk-horror motifs and family-driven vengeance.
Read at Roger Ebert
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