The Elixir Review: A dysfunctional family running a renowned herbal medicine business finds itself in a major problem when they develop a new potion that invariably triggers a zombie outbreak.
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The Elixir Netflix Cast
Eva Celia, Mikha Tambayong, Donny Damara, Dimas Anggara, Marthino Lio, Kiki Narendra, Varen Arianda Calief
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The Elixir Movie Director
Kimo Stamboel
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The Elixir 2025 Scriptwriter
Kimo Stamboel, Agasyah Karim, Khalid Kashogi
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Original Title
Abadi Nan Jaya
The Indonesian horror film has 116 minutes.
The Elixir Review
It’s Halloween and it’s the time to watch some horror movies and, with that, the first thing that we think about are zombies. The Elixir, on Netflix, brings us a zombie flick, following a dysfunctional family that accidentally produces an elixir that triggers a zombie outbreak when consumed. The first victim is the creator of said elixir, patriarch of the family, Pak Sadimin, and from there, things just start to extrapolate.
The film, much like every other zombie film, depends on shock, a ton of practical effects and a bunch of nincompoops flailing about without a thought in the world. Every time I watch a zombie flick, I have to constantly ask myself whether any of these people have ever watched a movie in their lives. The family makes one wrong decision after another and resulting in everyone in their village turning into zombies, and then continues to repeat said mistakes, resulting in some of their own dying.
The film is entertaining in the fact that the practical effects look great, and there are a ton of gnarly deaths. So if you’re getting into it to see a bunch of people get mangled and innards pouring out, yeah, this one does a good job. But there’s hardly any tension in the film, and you can’t help but feel frustrated with each and every character.
Sometimes I felt that they were purposefully being obtuse about the situation they were in. In one instance, one of the characters keeps honking their horn in front of a horde of zombies and is then absolutely SHOCKED when the zombies, who bit a few other people not 5 minutes ago, come running after them.
It’s times like these where you wonder whether turning your protagonists into airheads is really the way to go, especially in a survival horror film where making sane, smart decisions keeps you alive. Moreover, a big chunk of the film depends on us rooting for the characters and learning about them as they fight their way to safety. However, the characters are not given enough time to establish themselves in front of us, and we are, thus, left a bit uninterested in their journey. Of course, it’s difficult to root for someone who always decides to make the most insane decisions.
Overall, The Elixir is fine. I was interested to know more about this miracle drug and how it resulted in people turning into zombies, but there’s no explanation about that, which is a bummer. I think discussing that would’ve been a bit more interesting rather than showcasing the characters running from one house to another while making the most ruckus possible.
Final Thoughts
The Elixir isn’t particularly memorable, although the kills are brutal. It will leave you somewhat engaged, but overall, there’s nothing new or interesting about it. There are a ton of great zombie horror flicks out there that will leave you flinching. This one’s just not it.
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