There are a couple of scary scenes in Munafik: Melawan Iblis, the Indonesian remake of the 2016 Malaysian film, Munafik.
One of the scenes that has people talking about the movie features Acha Septriasa’s character, Nurse Fitri, being possessed and, at one point, crawling up a wall.
The possessed woman then practically hangs upside down, unnerving Ustaz Adam (Arya Saloka) with her unnatural position while taunting him with cruel words and deceiving him by showing something he wants.
Recalling the scene, the 37-year-old Indonesian actress said it was one of the most unforgettable physical challenges she faced while making the film.
“It was one of the toughest experiences of my career, but also one of the most rewarding,” she told the Malaysian press.
Acha, as it turned out, performed most of the stunts herself under the supervision of the stunt team, who had her wear a harness and take other safety precautions.
“What I remember most (about the scene) was how long we worked on it.
“We started around 10am and continued until 2am. That was just for that one moment.
“In total, we filmed that scene for five days.”
She continued: “The scene was shot sequence by sequence, even down to individual seconds.
“So, when I saw how everything came together... I felt really proud.
“After putting in all that work, it was really satisfying to see the final result.”
Speaking of the same scene, Arya complimented Acha for executing the scene despite her fear of heights.
“She told me she was afraid of heights, but I didn’t see any fear from her while she was up there.
“Instead, she was the one encouraging me. She kept saying, ‘Come on, let’s do this.’
“So when I was tired, Acha was the one encouraging me to go on.”
The actress, who started out in romance films, has delved into the horror genre in recent years, including Jaga Pocong (2018), Mumun (2022), Hantu Baru (2023) and last year’s Qodrat 2.
Her latest film, Munafik: Melawan Iblis, centres on Ustaz Adam who is called upon to perform exorcisms whenever someone in his community is believed to be possessed.
His latest case sees him facing a powerful demon that promises to wreak havoc on Adam’s life. Undeterred by the demon’s threat, Adam vanquishes it.
But soon, terrible things begin happening in his life, putting his faith to the test.
Things take an even darker turn when his next possession case involves Fitri, whose condition bears an eerie resemblance to the demon that had earlier issued the threat.
During the press meet, Acha admitted that she has a heightened sensitivity to supernatural occurrences or as she put it "a slight indigo intuition".
“But I’ve never actually seen the kinds of things that you see in horror films.
“I’ve only had my own experiences and visions,” she said.
When asked if anything happened during filming specifically when chanting a mantra in an ancient Javanese language, Acha replied: “When we were performing those scenes, I don’t know whether anything could have happened because I tried not to think about it too much.That’s also why, as an actor, I feel that I became closer to Allah.
“Whenever I perform something, I completely surrender myself. I surrender my mind, my body and my feelings so that everything goes smoothly when I’m using myself as the medium for the performance.
“By surrendering myself, praying more and seeking protection in my own way, I felt safer.”
However, she stressed that this does not mean she approaches every role as though she is not worried about being possessed.
“In fact, playing a demon was extremely contradictory to what I feel inside.
“When it’s ‘action’ time, I have to play a demonic character. But when the director calls ‘cut’, I’d immediately say, ‘Astaghfirullahalazim.’
“Because, honestly, I was scared.”
Laughing, she added: “To be honest, one of the reasons I was constantly encouraging Arya while filming those scenes was because I was actually comforting myself.”
Munafik: Melawan Iblis is showing at cinemas nationwide.
