Halfworlds

I knew for the first time about the series from social media then from the HBO advertise. I said to my self, "Wow an Indonesian series, directed by Indonesian top director, broadcast by HBO. Its going to be awesome!". Until I actually watched the first episode. There were so many "wait what?", "why?", "who are you" moments. The flow of the story was confusing, the transitions from one scene to another was odd. There were many flashing scenes jumping from one situation to another situation then back to the previous situation then jump again and so on. The acting were below HBO series bar. The episode was also ended awkwardly leaving me confused. I watched the second and the third eps and the conditions above still occurs. I am hoping so much there will be so much improvements and this series could have second season. I am very proud with this series and the director, cast and crews. Come on Joko Anwar!

To be honest, compared to another International TV series, this series doesn't make me want to watch the next episode. I miss the curious feeling when I watched it. However, the mind blowing ideas in the finale episode is quite nice. If you want to watch some unusual series. Then this series is for you. I want to see the next season, hopefully they show us how powerful every creature is. I don't know, they just seems to be too weak for me. Some scary effects to show the strength of each character is okay. The sexual scene is really annoying, why they are doing that too often? The fighting scene is somehow feel strange, but nice. I like the Tara Basro fighting style. Remind me of some game in the past, epic. Great job Joko Anwar.

The story starts promising with dark and ancient Asian monsters, sound good and exciting. But its all end with just a simple explanation "Because they look just like us." Wow... In the end the whole story is blurry, there is still no real meaning behind everything and to be honest i was expected some supernatural monsters, superhuman abilities at least but it is just like low class gangsters cutting each other throats the whole season. The actors & actresses look gorgeous but that is only it. Shallow acting, trying to hard to be cool and look dangerous they forgot to act. Dialogs are short and sketchy, characters have no deep intact to the storyline, Everything are just flowing around each other. Hope they get it together for next season.

If you think this is Indonesia's TV Show wake up call, then you're wrong. This is not it! I wrote this review just so people would not hope so much from the series.

I watched most of the first season just because I hoped things will get better the next second, but it never happened, well it was sometimes "it's gonna happen", but it did not. The development was so slow, when the finale came it was like the story was still trying to start and then it was end time. Probably my cruel judgment was because Halfworlds had the same schedule as Game of Thrones so I'm unconsciously comparing this serial to one of the greatest serial ever made.

In my opinion the acting (of some of the characters) were bad. This goes to Coki, Sarah, and Pinun. Acting is not the same as being a snobbish socialite. You can't blame Ario Bayu for all the experience he has, but his acting was too theatrical. One sentence per minute will not bring us anywhere. It is the time of fast development stories. If the audience can't catch up they can re-watch. I give extra credit to Adinia Wirasti and Arifin Putra for outstanding acts.

The fighting choreography were sub-pare. They weren't bad but if you want a movie to be half mostly about fighting you should make the fighting scenes something to wait for, right?

The kissing and nudity are out of place. If you want to put nudity in art it must mean something. All the kissing and swearing were like they are telling the audience "Hey, we're Indonesians but we're kissing and swearing, ain't that cool?". No it's not cool, it's a pity, and it's ironic.

At the end, this serial just looked like a rude mess. Please comeback with a full cooked plot and casts with serious intentions.

Let me start with what I liked about Halfworlds.

I was excited to watch a show that dealt with mysterious, supernatural beings who have secretly lived alongside humanity since ancient times. The setting (Jakarta, Indonesia) was unique for me, and added to the intrigue. The scenery seemed authentic, and the photography and directing gave the scenes a feel of authenticity. The backstory of these demit as a whole was interesting and made me want to research the mythology. Sadly, there is a lack of historical writings on this subject in English, but that isn't this show's fault. The anime-style introductions were superb, and serve as an example to future film/TV creators. So far it's all about drama, atmosphere, and drawing the audience in to an exotic adventure.

Now to what about Halfworlds didn't work for me.

The characters are all very contrived and two-dimensional. The only thing that separates one from another and lets you distinguish them individually is their style of dress and haircut. They don't seem like people, just stereotypes. Any line of dialogue could have been delivered by anyone. There is no difference in personality. And that brings me to the dialogue. It's more like a list of random sentences designed to sound cool and edgy than to convey ideas and move the story along. The characters say some words, a fight breaks out, bodies hit the pavement, some more random words, rinse, repeat. What is happening? Who is this person? What is he trying to accomplish? What allies him or sets him at odds with the other characters? What is the point of ANY of this? What is The Gift? Why is it so dreadful? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to call it "The Curse"? You never get any clear idea of any of these things. There is no structure here, either internally or externally. It's just...atmosphere and setting. If anyone asked me "What happens in Halfworlds?" I wouldn't have any idea how to answer them.

In the end, it put me in mind of Wesley Snipe's Blade movies, but with no plot, no sense of who he's supported by or fighting against or why. Just a room full of really cool, really beautiful, stylishly dressed bad asses trying to look cooler, more beautiful, more stylish, and more bad ass than everyone else in the room. In Blade, I learned about the differences between the average vampire (how they live, what they do, what they want) and daywalkers. With Halfworls, I learned that demit are ancient creatures that once coexisted with mankind, but are now enemies of humanity. I think. I'm not really sure. Are they? It's never completely clear. And why? What happened? I waited for the answers to all of these questions and many more, but they never came.

Everything I know about demit, I learned in the first 10 minutes of episode 1.