THE STORY – In a town where pleasure equals being possessed by spiritual beings, Bayu aspires to be the shaman of a trance party so he can fundraise enough money to prevent an impending eviction.
THE CAST – Angga Yunanda, Anggun, Maudy Ayunda, Bryan Domani & Chicco Kurniawan
THE TEAM – Wregas Bhanuteja (Director/Writer), Defi Mahendra & Alicia Angelina (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 119 Minutes
Indonesian filmmaker Wregas Bhanuteja gives the term “genre-bending” true meaning with his transcendent third feature, “Levitating” (originally “Para Perasuk”). Bhanuteja assembles a group of spirited, creative performers to exercise their emotions in one intensely communal space. Through symbolic music, dance, and channeling animalistic spirit, an Indigenous community comes together to fight for their land and keep outside threats at bay. Drawing pleasure from being possessed by spirits, the community surrenders itself to a hallucinatory realm, where they intensify their daydreams with various forms of expression. The film’s incredible choreography and playful practical effects give way to a thoughtful exploration of obsession, healing, and human connection. “Levitating” is a visceral feast that pushes the boundaries of what cinema, and the power of community, can conjure within us.
Following stories of lost identity in the digital age with “Photocopier” (originally “Penyalin Cahaya”) and “Andragogy” (originally “Budi Pekerti”), Bhanuteja’s “Levitating” bypasses technological distractions and taps into a dreamy trance state, one that dives deep into people’s hearts to release their unfiltered identities. Set in the tiny Indonesian village of Latas, “Levitating” follows a group of villagers who channel and embody spirits through trance dance parties. Each party suspends the dancers’ souls into a transitory state, where they can release their emotional baggage and heal their inner selves by conjuring different energies. Led by the hypnotic guidance of Guru Asri (Anggun), humans and spirits co-exist to form a unique state of happiness.
The film centers on Bayu (Angga Yunanda), a young spirit channeler caught in the space between wanting to prove himself in this community and masking the inner demons that trouble him. With an eviction looming, Bayu wrestles with his father’s temptation to sell their house to a developer and move back to Jakarta. The entire village faces a similar uprooting driven by corporate greed. Suits known as the Wanaria group propose to buy the village water spring and employ security officers to interfere with the community’s culture. To raise money for the community, Guru Asri’s trance school hosts a fundraising party, and she will need new spirit channelers representing the best of Latas. Bayu, eager to apply himself, brings forth his powerful flute and aspires to earn a place in Guru Asri’s selection process. With village elders in charge of judging the highest scores, the fundraiser becomes a test of whether Bayu can let go of his past and usher in a new future.
One of the film’s greatest strengths lies in how Bhanuteja conveys spirits not as supernatural, but as concurrent with the human experience. While the film has a surreal and heightened cinematic expression, Bhanuteja crafts an incredibly grounded world, rooted in real emotions and characters we can identify with on an intimate level. The characterization of Bayu, in particular, echoes a journey marked by obsessive behavior. He shows a willingness to do whatever it takes to draw individuals to his sound and become a top spirit channeler. The film uses Bayu’s pursuits to illuminate how the overpowering of one emotion, obsession in his case, pushes the act of true self-discovery further from reach.
In a scene that best communicates this dynamic, Guru Asri engages Bayu in an honesty ritual. The sound of his flute tells her he is having family problems, but he hesitates to share his true feelings. Guru Asri questions Bayu’s ability to channel spirits for other people if he lies to himself. “If you’re not at peace with the past, how can you be happy?” She identifies the pursuit of happiness that drives the core of Bhanuteja’s film. The trance parties are a raw expression of joy that the spirit channelers work to protect from a corporation that wants to enforce its hollow measures of fulfillment. Beneath the colorful choreography and frenetic imagery, a community’s fight to preserve its culture and identity resonates.
Siko Setyanto’s spellbinding choreography is integral to the success of “Levitating,” as the film finds its emotional core in the performers’ collective rhythm. The choreography assigns each featured animal spirit, from ants and leeches to buffalo and turtles, a distinctive movement for the performers to embody. In the trance party scenes, they shift into animal forms to convey the sensation of the animal spirit possessing their characters. Depending on the spirit, they could be jumping in the air at one moment or forming one collective hug the next. The hug sequence, in particular, shows Bhanuteja’s vision at its creative peak. When security officers invade the land, the spirit channelers debate on which spirit to use against them. Fire ant spirits that view the officers as prey? Leech spirits that suck them dry? The channelers ultimately settle on a less painful approach, and we are given striking visualizations of how they reach that decision.
“Levitating” excels at showing how the performers’ bodies intuitively respond to different energies and sounds. The film leans on the power of music and dance to help people release emotions, let go of distractions, and fully ground themselves in the present. The performers work in lockstep with the choreography and music to craft a truly visceral experience. Angga Yunada plays Bayu with compelling allure and impressively contorts his body to replicate animal-based movements. As Guru Asri, Anggun brings a vibrant presence to the screen. Through guttural chanting and a raw intensity, she moves seamlessly to the film’s wavelength.
Bhanuteja’s direction is overflowing with creative choices that capture the spirit channelers’ trance parties and the hallucination realm they enter. He sets an offbeat precedent very early on, as we are frantically transported into people’s nostrils and ears to reveal an otherworldly realm in their psyches. The hallucination world, in particular, becomes a fun playground for practical effects and vivid production design. Despite all the surreal visuals, it is Bhanuteja’s more grounded depiction of community that lets a deeper story shine through. It takes a moment to grasp some narrative developments and relationship dynamics that get muddled along the way, but the film’s distinctive vision is hypnotic. “Levitating” will hook you in a trance, inspire your creativity, and leave you craving for its aliveness when the daydream wears off.
