{"id":317938,"date":"2025-11-30T05:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T05:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/317938\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T05:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T05:20:10","slug":"psychological-horror-evil-underground-bows-at-jaff-future-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/317938\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychological Horror ‘Evil Underground’ Bows at JAFF Future Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIndonesian filmmaker Adriyanto Dewo has a new psychological horror project selected for the JAFF Future Project with \u201cEvil Underground<\/a>,\u201d about estranged sisters trapped in a mall basement.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Indonesia production, directed by Dewo and produced by Perlita Desiani and Tina Arwin through production company Relate Films, is among 10 Asia-Pacific titles selected for the JAFF Future Project at this year\u2019s JAFF Market<\/a> in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEvil Underground\u201d follows a group of teenagers who gather for a midnight horror screening at an old, decaying trade center. Among them are sisters Dian and Mirna, still estranged after their father\u2019s death sent Dian into a mental-health retreat. After the film, a friend dares them to try a viral ritual in the mall\u2019s lowest basement: five circles at midnight, headlights off, a simple mantra.<\/p>\n

\n\tNothing happens until the final loop ends with a violent jolt, and when they step out to check, Dian has vanished into the darkness. As they search for her, the basement warps into a looping, psychological trap where shadows whisper, corridors repeat and an entity mimics the dead, feeding on their buried guilt. To survive, the group must confront the secrets, tensions and betrayals they\u2019ve long avoided, because the deeper the darkness grows, the more it hunts whatever they refuse to face.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Dewo, the story comes from two personal experiences. \u201cYears ago, my partner and I were briefly stuck in the basement level of a mall parking lot. She has claustrophobia, and I watched her fear escalate in a very real, visceral way,\u201d the director says. \u201cThat moment made me realize how a familiar place can suddenly feel threatening and disorienting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe second inspiration came from something more emotional. \u201cAs we grow older, we start hearing more news about people around us passing, parents, relatives, friends,\u201d Dewo says. \u201cAnd recently, I saw two sisters close to me lose their father. They reacted to grief in very different ways. Not as extreme as in the film, of course, but the contrast was striking. It made me think deeply about how people process pain differently, even within the same family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThese two elements \u2014 the unsettling feeling of being lost in an urban basement, and the emotional complexity of siblings dealing with grief \u2014 came together. \u201cThat mix of personal memory, real-life observation, and the desire to explore grief through genre storytelling is what inspired \u2018Evil Underground,’\u201d Dewo says.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe director wants to use horror as a lens to examine contemporary youth anxiety. \u201cWe\u2019re living in a time where young people face more pressure, anxiety, and loss than ever, yet they often hide it behind humor, distraction, or social media,\u201d he says. \u201c\u2018Evil Underground\u2019 uses horror as a way to explore that, on how unspoken pain can twist into jealousy, resentment, and destructive behavior when it\u2019s never addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe producers added, \u201cAs producers, we were drawn to \u2018Evil Underground\u2019 because it frames urgent social issues within a compelling, elevated horror concept. The project reflects the emotional climate of today\u2019s youth, silent pressures, fractured relationships, and the growing intensity of urban life but channels it through a genre approach that feels fresh and accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt JAFF Market, the filmmakers aim to build strategic partnerships that will help elevate the project from a strong local project into a film with global reach. \u201cWe would like to take this event as an opportunity to start a breakthrough of Indonesia\u2019s new flavor of horror,\u201d the producers say. \u201cWhere we want to emphasize social issues wrapped in a terrifying psychological thriller, a genre rarely explored and tested in fear of unreliability to the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe team is looking to connect with potential co-producers, distributors and international sales agents who share their passion for genre films with social depth. \u201cWe also hope to gain early market feedback, explore festival positioning, and strengthen the visibility of the project within the Southeast Asian and international industry network,\u201d they say. \u201cJAFF Market is an important platform for us to introduce \u2018Evil Underground\u2019 to the right collaborators who can help maximize both its creative and commercial impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDewo\u2019s debut feature \u201cTabula Rasa\u201d won him the Citra Award for best director at the 2014 Indonesian Film Festival. He also directed \u201cHomecoming,\u201d which had its world premiere at the 2019 International Film Festival and Awards Macao, and won the Citra Award for original screenplay at the 2020 Indonesian Film Festival. He has also worked in horror, directing the segment \u201cGhost Market\u201d in the 2012 horror anthology \u201cHi5teria.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDewo is also attached to write and direct a remake of 1988 Indonesian horror cult classic \u201cLukisan Berlumur Darah\u201d<\/a> for Mandela Pictures and Relate Films, with production scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe project is currently in development. JAFF Future Project functions as both a development platform and co-production hub, designed to advance independent works toward completion and distribution. The initiative runs Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Jogja Expo Center in Yogyakarta as part of the broader 20th-anniversary celebration of the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indonesian filmmaker Adriyanto Dewo has a new psychological horror project selected for the JAFF Future Project with \u201cEvil…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,134,179353,179354,179355,344],"class_list":{"0":"post-317938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-evil-underground","12":"tag-jaff-market","13":"tag-jogja-netpac-asian-film-festival","14":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}