KILLERS (2014)

Genre: Thriller
Director: The Mo Brothers
Cast: Kazuki Kitamura, Oka Antara, Luna Maya, Rin Takanashi
RunTime: 2 hrs 18 mins
Rating: R21 (Strong Violence and Gore)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 16 October 2014

Synopsis: Mr. Nomura is an eerily handsome, sharply dressed, sociopathic serial killer who preys on the women of Tokyo. In Jakarta, a world-weary journalist named Bayu finds himself unexpectedly falling into vigilantism after brutally killing two sadistic robbers. When each posts videos of his violent sprees online, the pair find one another on the Internet and begin a toxic and competitive duel. While Bayu clings to the hope that he can resume a normal life, Nomura continues to spill blood without remorse. Killing, advises Nomura, is something everyone ought to consider.

Movie Review:

We rarely begin our reviews with a piece of consumer advice, but ‘Killers’ should come with its own warning label. This is not one for the squeamish, and as a gauge, let us caution you that we found it even more disturbing than any of the ‘Saw’ movies or for that matter either of the ‘Hostel’ films. To say that it is bloody is quite the understatement, and not even brutal quite encapsulates some of its more graphic sequences, so stomach ourselves if you’re going to sit through this Indonesian thriller with a Japanese twist.

For the uninitiated, ‘Killers’ has two protagonists from two different parts of Asia. On one end is Nomura (Kazuki Kitamura), a suave and somewhat debonair Japanese with his own loft-style apartment on the outskirts of Tokyo. There is no illusion to his depravity though - the very first sequence we see is that of Nomura beating a woman to death with a mallet shortly after having sex with her. What’s more, Nomura captures everything on video, carefully edits it and then uploads the footage onto a specialised website for similarly inclined individuals to admire.

On the other is Indonesian journalist Bayu (Oka Antara); and while Nomura is the personification of a natural born killer, Bayu begins on a much more sympathetic note. Disgraced after his expose on a powerful kingpin Mr Dharma (Ray Sahetapy) goes awry, Bayu is struggling to rebuild his life with his estranged wife and teenage daughter (Ersya Aurelia). His circumstance takes a horrific turn when he becomes the unwitting victim of a sex crime cum robbery, and in a moment of self-defence ends up killing both his assailants. Yet in his moment of panic, Bayu recalls the videos he had seen by Nomura and decides to make his own that he then uploads on the very same website.

As you may imagine, that pretty much serves as a calling card for Nomura, who promptly initiates contact with Bayu to teach him the tricks of the ‘killing’ trade. Though some may be tempted to think that Nomura and Bayu will end up rivals trying to outperform each other with each kill, the skilfully crafted screenplay by Timo Tjahjanto and Takuji Ushiyama generally avoids that narrative convention. Yes, while there is a hint of rivalry between the two, their relationship is much more compelling - for a good part of the film, Nomura isn’t so much as competing with Bayu as grooming him to become as twisted as himself, soothing his conscience with such advice like “the second kill is always the hardest”.

Their fates couldn’t however be more different. Nomura befriends a florist Hisae (Rin Takanashi), who is the sole caretaker of her autistic younger brother, and sees in their bond shades of his own tragic relationship with his older sister. It is as close a shot to redemption as Nomura has ever gotten in a long while, but salvation doesn’t come easy for the malevolent at heart. In the meantime, Bayu finds himself possessed by a misguided sense of vigilantism, and with each murder, becomes further and further unhinged.

Just as you’re wondering if the film is content to keep its two characters physically apart for the entire duration, along comes a deliberately ironic turn of events which leaves Bayu regaining his sanity at Nomura’s expense, and the concomitant conclusion which follows is a surprisingly clever and unexpected one that forces both characters to come to terms with the consequences of their actions over the course of the movie. We’d even go so far as to say that their respective denouement in the last half hour is the film’s own deliverance, which would otherwise be no better than glorified torture porn.

Indeed, we would not be surprised that many among its audience will find several of the earlier scenes repugnant, in particular those where Nomura methodically tracks, baits and ensnares his female targets, revelling in their pleas of helplessness before smashing (and we mean this literally) the life out of them. We don’t blame those who find the movie itself disgusting, because up until the twists towards the end, we pretty much felt sick to our guts. There is thankfully method to the madness, and while some may still not feel it justifiable, we at least saw precisely what Tjahjanto and his co-director Kimo Stamboel were getting at.

Dubbed the Mo brothers (who share no connection with each other except a ‘mo’ in both their names), their sophomore feature after the 2009 pregnancy-slasher ‘Macabre’ is more than just sadistic thrills; rather, it is a dark psychological thriller that paints psychosis as a response to tragedy - both Nomura and Bayu’s descent into the mouth of madness stems from their misfortune, the former after losing his beloved sister and the latter after being forced to separate from his beloved wife and daughter. There is brilliance to the nihilism, though it first demands that its audience have the patience and temerity to sit through its vicious displays of violence.

The fact that it does get under your skin is also testament to the acting on display. Both Antara and his counterpart Kitamura are excellent in their roles, the former in portraying his character’s inner anguish and the latter in capturing his character’s utter depravity. The two co-stars of ‘The Raid 2’ complement each other nicely, lending the film the gravitas it needs to prevent from tipping into exploitation.

Like we said at the start, this isn’t the film for the weak of heart, and even for those who aren’t, it does take a certain amount of mettle to get through even the first twenty of minutes of misogynistic savagery. It will be polarising all right, but ‘Killers’ is also one of the most unapologetic films we’ve seen in recent memory, one that isn’t afraid to employ its method to the fullest in order to achieve its intended effect on its audience. We can’t say we loved it, but as a motion picture that deserves to be experienced, this is in a league of its own. 

Movie Rating:

(Unabashedly brutal and at times misogynistic, this unflinchingly savage thriller rises above torture porn with smart scripting, good acting and skilful direction)

Review by Gabriel Chong