THE SAFEST SPACE FOR MY UNSOLICITED OPINIONS

“What an actual freak!,” my husband snapped in awe when the film ended that Monday night while I was too stunned to speak, mouth gaping. It took us a couple of minutes to leave our theatre seats. Feeling humbled. Digesting. Staring at each other. Digesting again.

Arriving home, we continued to shake our heads and gasp about what we’ve just witnessed before sobbing our hearts out, despite being familiar with a peculiar concept of time loop embedded in films and TV shows we watched in the past: Groundhog Day, When We First Met, Loki, Doctor Strange, Looper, Edge of Tomorrow.

Critically acclaimed Indonesian film director Yandy Laurens’ Sore: Istri dari Masa Depan is a story that delves into simple conflicts in relationships, particularly in marriage, suffused with rich emotional complexities that feels like no other to both of us. Sore (Sheila Dara), the wife, lost her husband Jonathan (Dion Wiyoko) to a heart attack in the future as she claims. Carrying a weight of sudden loss, she accidentally finds a way to time travel to a period where he lives alone in Croatia, then tries to address his bad habits to avoid him dying. Isn’t the premise quite common? Isn’t it a bit corny? Are people praising this only for being FOMO? Wait, hang on.

The film lets us submerge into Sore’s whimsical repeated resets where we also find a slice of paradox in Jonathan, a photographer who is eager to highlight about the dangerous impacts of worsening climate change ready to ruin our planet through his photography work during a trip to the Arctic, whereas, he subconsciously ‘destroys’ himself stressing with bags of tobacco and bottles of alcohol, living in unresolved generational trauma thanks to his estranged father.

It’s not capturing a naive wife thinking “I can fix him” nor preaching about a clean lifestyle that the narrative aims to emphasize. Instead, using an enchanting non-linear plot and a touch of fantastical realism, Sore exhibits a much more nuanced version of “for sure I’d go bonkers and go to great lengths to bring my spouse back to life”. It magically translates how the lingering grief and the power of love can transcend dimensions of time and space to a mix of emotional ingredients that are human.

The mind-bending level of this film doesn’t challenge us to decipher the concept that we may have experienced when watching Memento, Donnie Darko, or Inception. It just asks you to imagine and feel. So, would Sore’s endeavors work after all? Would Jonathan change for the better and live longer? The electrifying ending is open to your own interpretation.

We have seen Yandy’s other works before and loved them, including a 2018 web series Mengakhiri Cinta dalam 3 Episode starring the same actors, yet we didn’t want to set high hopes on purpose before watching Sore. You know, those moments in life when expectations slump just like that, we wanted to avoid that feeling.

However, that night in the theatre made us love his works even more. It’s not because we’re married like the two protagonists so we feel instantly relatable, but imagine being served with poetic cinematography, impressive acting, solid script, that together construct a delicate storytelling that breaks and comforts us at the same time. Our admiration also goes to Goran Bogdan’s performance as Karlo, Jonathan’s agent and only close friend in the timeline. His humorous presence feels natural and in touch with the narrative, as well with the other supporting characters. Not to mention the magical set of songs from Barasuara, Adithya Sofyan, and Sheila On 7 which complete this celestial journey.

My husband’s most favourite aspect of Sore is the well crafted camera work and scenic shots—mostly the ones in Croatia—which enhance the overall psychological impact, whilst mine is the ending montage intertwined with Barasuara’s Terbuang Dalam Waktu that weave all the memories into a big giant mental hole. If you love famous montages in Up, Cinema Paradiso, or La La Land, I guess this one will hook you as well. It’s almost impossible not to feel something out of it as if drawn with ecstasy of a love that is ready to be forever unremembered.

As two people who love to enjoy cinema, without being pretentious film snobs, now we proudly say that Sore, a stellar cinematic experience navigating love and loss, is one of the best we’ve ever watched and will stick with us for a very very long time.

Kezia