If you found May’s Revenge to be a bit “much”, you may prefer the nuanced simplicity of Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts.

Filmmaker Mouly Surya tells a similar rape-revenge story.  An Indonesian woman, Marlina (Marsha Timothy), is attacked by a pack of relentless men and she seeks justice after she finds her own inner power.  While Marlina carries out her own personal journey, an intersecting narrative about her pregnant friend Novi (Dea Panendra) is in motion;  she fights against her own oppression.

Where Revenge used in-your-face tactics and an uncompromising screenplay to take the viewer on a wild ride, Surya presents a film that’s more digestible while balancing multiple plot points.  Static wide shots, ponderous performances, and a score that emphasizes atmospheric suspicion are used by the Fiksi. director to detail this story.  However, aside from the occasional visual metaphor, Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts doesn’t challenge itself.  It’s an episodic film that doesn’t offer anything more than its face value.  This error is subjective, and will depend on the viewer’s expectations on whether they need more than the bare essentials for a movie to be considered worthwhile.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie