Joshua Suherman and Sarah Beatrix Share Horror Experiences - The Shooting Process of 'ARWAH' on KapanLagi Talks

Kapanlagi.com - KapanLagi Talks brings back an exclusive chat with two young stars, Joshua Suherman and Sarah Beatrix. This time they share exciting yet tense experiences during the shooting of their latest horror film titled ARWAH. Although this film is in the horror genre, both emphasize that ARWAH has a different approach from most horror films.

Sarah believes that a good horror film is one that makes the audience feel uneasy from start to finish—even without jumpscares or startling music. Meanwhile, Joshua emphasizes the importance of a strong story. "When we go to the cinema, it shouldn't just be about scares. The story must be strong, and the execution must flow," he asserted.

1. Horror Movies Nowadays in Indonesia Are Quite Many, So What Makes This Spirit Film Stand Out From The Others?

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Sarah Beatrix: "What makes it interesting might still be the horror element, but what is emphasized more is the family aspect, the warmth of the family. So from that warmth, there are splashes of horror that create fear. So maybe that's what makes it more interesting."

Joshua Suherman: "From my perspective, this is indeed a family film, but also the characters that appear in this film happen a lot and may be inspired by what the writer sees in society. So when I was designing the characters together with others, I also looked at what is happening around us, and the hope is that it becomes relatable to many people. So this is not just a horror film that scares or startles. As for my character, I am the first child of three siblings, I have a younger sibling in real life, so I have a younger sibling and I am the eldest, my mother is a single parent. So I know what it feels like to be the backbone of the family, and that is also reflected in my character in this film."

Sarah Beatrix: "As for Sofi's character, she is close to the youngest child, and I also in real life am really the youngest child. Then she is close to her father, and I am also quite close to my dad, he is indeed quiet and follows the flow, like when dad asks her to do something, she obeys. So I think Sara and Sofi are quite similar."

2. After Acting in This Film, What Do You Think Makes a Good Horror Movie?

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Sarah Beatrix: "Hmm, in my opinion, it's good and it can't be seen from just watching it; maybe it always feels uneasy. So, from the beginning to the end, even though there are no jump scares, even without music, it still feels uneasy. So, it seems that if it feels uneasy from the beginning to the end, it must be good."

Joshua Suherman: "For me, it has to be the story because we don't want to pay for a movie ticket just to get startled without any entertainment from the story. So, the story has to be strong, and the execution has to flow well. Because actually, when I watch a movie, I feel like I'm being told a story, so it has to be told clearly or the story might confuse me. Especially since I, as an audience of this film, am a bit of a clueless viewer; if I skip a bit, I wonder what happened earlier. So for me, the story is one of the reasons I wanted to join this project when I was offered it because I asked for the synopsis, and from that synopsis, I was already interested. Because many horror films have a synopsis, but the synopsis of this spirit film made me feel like, wow, I can't really tell too much detail. But the point is, it’s something unusual."

3. What Is the Atmosphere Like When Filming a Horror Movie, Is It Tiring?

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Joshua Suherman: "Oh yeah, for me, actually, outside of the set, it's pretty much the same as other films. I mean, other films also have scenes that are shot at night, and some films shoot until morning, it's just the same. The only difference might be the intensity while acting, you know. After shooting a horror film, I definitely have to practice my vocal skills because there are a lot of screaming involved. And the energy expended for a scene might be several times more than the standard scenes. Because there might be running, screaming, and acting scared, which also requires more energy, that's how I see it, yeah, just the energy."

Sarah Beatrix: "Maybe it is more tiring because I am in the position of terrorizing the older siblings here. So maybe my skin is more tired because I have to be made up every day, this makeup, that makeup, so I have to be ready."
Joshua Suherman: "It doesn't mean that other genres aren't tiring; they are tiring, but maybe because it's a horror film, the expressions have to be more visible, and I'm not used to that, maybe. So the energy expended, the effort, becomes greater. But dramatic acting, crying, is also tiring; everything is tiring, we are all tired."

4. Is There a Moment When Reading Seems Easy, But Execution is Difficult?

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Joshua Suherman: "Oh there is, if I become involved in a reading, it's not easy. We just have to be confident that we have practiced, right? The scene is indeed long and has high intensity. If I'm not mistaken, the six of us in that one scene really have a lot of back-and-forth, and what we didn't know was that the scene was shot in just one take. So there were no cuts, remember when we were in the living room? You weren't here, oh just the older siblings, yes, so that's it. Actually, if you read the script, it looks like, 'oh okay, we've practiced, we can do that.' But what we didn't know was that the camera treatment was handheld and continued like that. So the timing of when we cut off the other person's speech, when we block and move, and so on, was not imagined beforehand. I forgot how many takes it was, but clearly that day, that afternoon, it didn't finish because it got late, so we continued the next day and had to repeat the emotions."

5. But roughly, what has the most takes?

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Joshua Suherman: "Oh no, there are various scenes that are technically more complicated, it seems like there are many more, hopefully no spoilers. We have a car accident scene, that's already in the trailer. The treatment is really complicated because it involves everything."
Sarah Beatrix: "Yes, and the equipment is really big, so we are spun around."
Joshua Suherman: "Yeah, it's like when people make kebabs, you know, it's spun like that, and we needed a whole day just to work on that top scene."
Sarah Beatrix: "It's really spun, not edited."
Joshua Suherman: "Yes, that's right."

Sarah Beatrix: "So it's like riding a ride at Dufan but more extreme."
Joshua Suherman: "Yeah because there are no seat belts."
Sarah Beatrix: "There are, there are, it's safe, safe, if I may say, the one in the car is really the treatment that's more intense because we practiced that before taking, we practiced first 'oh can it spin like this' like we did several practices before taking. So it's really spun, right? So our whole body is also spun."
Joshua Suherman: "Dizzy, seriously dizzy."
Sarah Beatrix: "And then we were once held, right, our heads down and then yes up, oh, our legs up, so it was like eh like that."

Joshua Suherman: "Yes, there is (shooting needs), so actually the camera is high speed, the plan was to do it in slow-mo. But why when we took the first shot, it was really slow-mo. So it was like wait, wait, wait, this isn't going up, right?" So, in the end, it was repeated one more time, that take was 3 or 4 rounds if I'm not mistaken, the story goes that the car rolled over 3-4 times during that one take, so it spun three or four times, okay, this is lacking, okay, let's repeat it, spin three or four times again."
Sarah Beatrix: "Feel it more, okay, repeat it again."
Joshua Suherman: "Basically, after that take, my face was all red because the blood rushed up, but it was fun. Yes, for (the shoot inside the car) what we always call is the carpool karaoke angle."

6. Is there any story or experience that gave you chills during filming?

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Joshua Suherman: "I don't have anything, but Sarah might want to share."
Sarah Beatrix: "Well, but I wasn't on set actually, at that time we were moving to Gunung Bundar near Curug. Then I finished filming first. So the older siblings were still taking their shots, so I moved ahead. From the first location, they said it's okay Sarah, you can go ahead, there's nothing there. So you just need to check in and then go in, when I arrived at the villa it turned out to be really quiet, there was absolutely no one, really no one. It was just us in the car, me, my mom, the driver, and my sibling. So there were four of us in the car, but they said it was crowded there, that there were people. So when we arrived at the villa, we were confused about how to get in, it was really quiet, that's it. After that, the driver got out to check, and at that moment, I was still sleeping, but I suddenly felt like someone was trying to turn my hand, like this (demonstrating a turning motion with his hand). Maybe they wanted to play or something. So my hand felt like it was turning even though I was still. But I knew we had arrived, so I forced myself to wake up, but I stayed quiet because I was scared. When I woke up, the driver came and said, 'Oh, there’s no one here at all,' yes, there was absolutely no one. I opened my phone in the group, there was no signal at all, and then that was it. Finally, the driver said, 'Let’s turn back first, Ma'am,' and on the road, when I opened my phone, there was already a signal and people were talking in the group, right?"

Joshua Suherman: "I wasn’t there that day."
Sarah Beatrix: "Oh yes, Kak Naura and Kak Irset said there was absolutely no one at the villa, that’s it, wow. But I was like, well, maybe it’s something, suddenly we arrived at the villa that had a lot of people, mom got out. Then mom immediately talked to the person who usually guards there, saying, 'Oh, I saw Sarah’s hand was about to be turned,' even though I didn’t tell mom. So I was like, how could that match up like that."
Joshua Suherman: "So the place that was empty earlier was the wrong villa, that villa was for us. The crowded villa was for the crew and everyone else."
Joshua Suherman: "And where did you actually stay?"
Sarah Beatrix: "Actually in the other villa."
Joshua Suherman: "Did you end up staying there?"
Sarah Beatrix: "No, we joined the crowd right away."
Joshua Suherman: "It would be amazing if you stayed there."
Sarah Beatrix: "Because there was absolutely no one, we couldn’t check in because there was no one."
Joshua Suherman: "That’s called a hidden gem."

Sarah Beatrix: "Then people were talking, Kak Faisal was saying, 'That villa is really nice, very crowded in the morning there’s someone guarding. But what surprised me the most was that I didn’t tell mom. But mom could match up with my story, so I was like, wow, this is the first time I’m filming. So the first time I felt like this, I didn't really understand what it meant. (While in the car, my hand) wanted to do this when it was about to turn, like it was almost full, I just reacted like that, like it was forced, like ah. But I realized the problem when I noticed that the father got out, like, ma'am, there’s no one here. So I was kind of in disbelief but, what can I say? (The filming) was in Puncak."
Joshua Suherman: "But that one, no, that was at Gunung Bundar near Curug."

7. As for Joshua, are you skeptical about things like that?

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Joshua Suherman: "I’m actually a coward. So because I’m a coward, I sometimes avoid the possibility of things like that. For example, if there’s a scene in the bathroom where the camera is outside and the action is from inside, I have to wait alone in the bathroom. I usually ask someone from the art department if they can accompany me inside, especially if there’s a scene in front that takes a long time to talk. Can someone just stay behind the door? It’s not that I’m scared or anything, but it’s just nicer to have someone to talk to."

(kpl/cvn)