The idea of taking something that people are already doing online and asking what happens when it goes horribly wrong is what Cek Khodam is all about, and it has a pretty funny starting point – three friends are making entertainment out of checking whether people have a khodam – a supernatural companion or spirit believed in some Indonesian spiritual traditions – and they’ve apparently become so successful at it that they’ve managed to make people less afraid of ghosts.
Which, as problems go, is a fairly unusual one.
And yes, this is officially a horror comedy.
When Ghosts Become Content
Sakti, Wira and Bima are three friends who create online content around Cek Khodam, basically turning supernatural beliefs into entertainment, but the problem is that their videos have become so successful that people aren’t taking ghosts seriously anymore, as apparently the supernatural world has its own version of an image problem.
The film’s official synopsis says that the AKM – Angka Ketakutan Manusia, or Human Fear Score – has fallen dramatically because of their antics, so the Panglima Khodam, or Khodam Commander, is sent into the human world to restore fear and, presumably, remind everybody that ghosts were here first.
That’s basically where the comedy comes from, and I have to admit, I like the stupidity of the idea, not stupid badly, byt stupid in the way a good horror comedy sometimes needs to be.
Trailer
Jirayut Leads The Mayhem
Jirayut plays Sakti, with Saputra Kori as Wira and Benidictus Siregar as Bima, and they’re joined by Angie Williams, Adi Sudirja, Cetul Leatherart, Fahira Almira, Mikayla Sofia Mercedes, Ence Bagus, Rowiena Umboh, Tante Lala and Wina Marino, among others.
JeroPoint directs the film and shares writing credits with SandikaGusti and ShintaPuji, while Dheeraj Kalwani is credited as producer and executive producer, with Faisal Helmy as line producer.
The cast is clearly built around people who can handle comedy as much as horror, which makes sense because this thing would probably collapse if everyone played it completely straight.
What Exactly Is a Khodam?
The khodam idea is where the film gets its supernatural foundation.
In Indonesian popular belief, a khodam can refer to a spiritual companion or supernatural entity believed to accompany or protect a person, and the concept sits alongside a much wider world of Indonesian beliefs about spirits, supernatural beings and unseen forces.
But Cek Khodam isn’t really interested in giving us a serious lesson about the subject, it is just taking something that exists in the cultural imagination and asks what happens when people start turning it into entertainment.
And that’s actually quite relevant to the film’s whole premise.
The Ghosts Have an Ego Problem
This is probably my favourite part of the setup.
The ghosts aren’t simply angry because somebody disturbed them, they’re angry because people aren’t scared anymore, and that’s a much funnier problem – imagine spending centuries being treated as terrifying, only for some bloke with a phone to start pointing a camera at you and asking, “Guys, what khodam do you think this person has?”
At some point you’d probably get annoyed too.
The film apparently turns that into a battle to restore the reputation of the supernatural world, with the Panglima Khodam personally getting involved.
It’s ridiculous.
But at least it’s ridiculous for a reason.
There’s a Lot of Indonesian Supernatural Stuff Here
The film has room for several recognisable supernatural figures, including genderuwo and pocong, with Adi Sudirja credited as Genderuwo and Cetul Leatherart as Pocong Karuhun, and that’s something I always like seeing in Indonesian horror, even when the film is playing things for laughs.
These aren’t generic Western ghosts dressed in whatever the costume department had lying around – they’re connected to Indonesian supernatural folklore and popular horror imagery, which gives the comedy something specific to work with, and having characters such as a pocong show up in a comedy is pretty funny in itself because the visual is so recognisable.
It’s difficult to look completely intimidating when you’re wrapped up like that.
Still, I’m not saying that to its face.
It Knows the Internet Has Changed Horror
There’s also a decent little idea underneath all the jokes – people now encounter supernatural stories constantly through TikTok, YouTube and social media, where Ghost videos, paranormal investigations and supposed sightings are everywhere.
You can watch something supposedly terrifying while sitting on the toilet eating a sandwich, and that’s probably not doing much for the supernatural world’s reputation, right?
So Cek Khodam takes that reality and turns it into the central joke – what happens when the people making money from supernatural content accidentally make everyone less afraid of the supernatural?
The answer is apparently to send the khodam down personally.
Which seems like a terrible management strategy.
Don’t Expect a Traditional Horror Movie
This is definitely worth pointing out because somebody looking at the title and expecting a serious Indonesian ghost movie could be in for a surprise – CGV lists the film as Comedy, while other listings classify it as Comedy and Horror.
So I’m not expecting Cek Khodam to be particularly frightening, as the horror is there because the story needs ghosts, spirits and supernatural chaos, but the real purpose is clearly comedy, and personally, that’s fine with me.
I’d rather a horror comedy admit what it is than spend two hours desperately trying to balance scares and jokes before eventually becoming neither, but the 110-minute runtime is perhaps the one thing that makes me slightly nervous.
That’s a long time to keep a joke going – if the comedy works, fine, if it doesn’t…
Well, that’s a lot of sitting around waiting for the next khodam to appear, but I am slightly interested in the the idea of supernatural folklore colliding with internet culture, because that feels much more specific to the world we’re actually living in now.
And I like that the joke isn’t simply people see a ghost and scream – the joke is that the ghosts are worried about their reputation, and that’s much better.
I’m also curious about Jirayut, Saputra Kori and Benidictus Siregar as the central trio because the whole film depends on their chemistry, so if they work well together, I can see this being a pretty entertaining couple of hours.
If they don’t, we’re going to have a very long 110 minutes.
Check out some more Indonesian horror movies.
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