The Night Comes For Us

Indonesia does what it does best, but this time ratchets up the gore to 11.

“Shouldn’t have sent a puppy to kill a tiger.”

Indonesia is really making a name for itself as the hyper-violent action film capital of the world, huh? In a market where Korean gangster films are particularly crunchy, and India is – if nothing else – having an absolute blast doing whatever the hell it wants, it’s tough to make a mark in the scene. With the success of The Raid, it seems that Indonesia has decided to all out on making some of the craziest, roughest action scenes known to man.

Ito (Joe Taslim) is a member of the South Asian Triad. Specifically, he’s one of the Six Seas – a group of powerful generals known for their ruthlessness. After laying waste to a village due to the actions of a few members, he has a change of heart and decides to spare a little girl, Reina (Asha Kenyeri Bermudez). He kills his Triad crew, flees back to Jakarta and reconnects with his old gang. It’s not long before the Triads, led by Six Seas member Chien Wu (Sunny Pang), catch up to him. Meanwhile, Arian (Iko Uwais), former member of Ito’s old gang, comes back to Jakarta with his own plans.

Based on the plot alone, you know exactly what you’re in for. You don’t namecheck a group of elite warriors without placing a few boss fights, complete with unique skills and weapons, along the way. What’s more interesting is that the film sort of shies away from using all of its Six Seas villains, deciding to introduce a few extra factions in the form of Arian, and a mysterious figure called The Operator (Julie Estelle), who has motivations that will no doubt be explored if this movie or its comic book get a sequel.

Either way, the story is entirely secondary to the film’s primary purpose of showing people get absolutely wrecked in the most brutal way possible. The movie’s action is, obviously, the aspect that got all the attention and it’s pretty evident why. The Night Comes for Us decides that brutality trumps all, so gives us some of the most batshit violent action you’ve seen this side of a 80s slasher. It’s pretty nonstop, as well, only giving us a few moments of backstory here and there, or a minute or two to mourn a character we were only introduced to some minutes prior.

But the biggest issue is with any of that is you don’t really garner much affection for these characters, what they want or how they relate to each other. The final battle between Ito and Arian is supposed to be important and meaningful, but their connection was tenuous at best, only really seen through a single flashback. This is true for most of the interactions, where everyone is so emotionless that none of it really matters. It leads to fights that are very cool, extremely visceral, but kind of hollow. Ultimately they feel a bit boring after a while because the stakes just aren’t there.

At the end of the day, if you want something more bloody than your typical Headshot or Triple Threat, then The Night Comes for Us is going to scratch that itch. It’s by no means of the imagination a great film, and even the fight scenes can feel a bit dragged out, but it does exactly what it sets out to do. Except maybe get you excited for a sequel.

Verdict: Not as gorgeously choreographed as others of its kind, The Night Comes For Us makes a name for itself by trading style for gore, and largely succeeds in making us wince from start to finish.

Overall entertainment: 6.5/10
Violence: 10/10
Sex: 0/10
Odd edits: 2. Both strange cuts from very clearly different shoot days
Reina: Why the need to kill her?
Bobby: In what universe is he supposed to be white
Makeshift armour: Floor signs, wads of paper
Language: Suddenly French?

The Night Comes for Us (2018)
Indonesian, English, Mandarin, French

Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Writer: Timo Tjahjanto

CAST

Joe Taslim – Ito
Iko Uwais – Arian
Asha Kenyeri Bermudez – Reina
Sunny Pang – Chien Wu
Julie Estelle – The Operator
Salvita Decorte – Shinta
Abimana Aryasatya – Fatih
Zack Lee – White Boy Bobby
Dimas Anggara – Wisnu
Dian Sastrowardoyo – Alma
Hannah Al Rashid – Elena
Revaldo – Yohan