Aahana Swrup
‘Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati’ is an Indonesian horror film that equips the found-footage format to present a tale about a haunting possession. Risa Saraswati, gifted with the ability to commune with souls on the other side of mortality, uses her skills to write books and host a podcast about the supernatural world. However, as the filming of one episode goes wrong, volunteer guest Prinsa Mandagie falls victim to the powers of one particularly menacing spirit. As a result, after the woman begins showcasing concerning symptoms, the Jurnal Risa team must travel to a village in search of a ritual that could expel the spirit, Samex, from this realm.
The film progressively builds upon its horror elements, slowly unraveling the secrets of the possession that Prinsa has found herself under. Consequently, as the Jurnal Risa team changes scenery from their regular lives to the village, the scope for danger increases. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati Plot Synopsis
The film begins as a documentary about the supernatural, which explores the subject through Risa Saraswati, an author and content creator who shares her special supernatural abilities through her work. Although she used to be scared of her ability to hear the departed, she eventually began listening to their stories and penning them as novels to share with the world. Still, even though she has had mostly positive interactions with the other side, she has also crossed paths with a malevolent spirit once. The spirit’s capacity for evil runs so deep that Risa and her family are scared even to evoke its name again.
After a casual interview, the documentary crew follows Risa and her team out to the ruins, where they plan on filming their latest supernatural venture. For this episode, the team has sought out three candidates, all of whom are left alone separately in the ruins, as a bravery test. Of the three contestants, Prinsa, a young woman, remains eager to find fame through this stint. As a result, once alone, she begins chanting the name of the forbidden spirit, having heard it once in Risa’s podcast. Consequently, it isn’t long before the woman starts acting strange, hissing into the cameras fixed around the ruins by Risa’s team.
In turn, Risa’s team arrives at Prinsa’s aid, cutting their filming short. Although the woman returns to her regular life, living with her cousin, Bayu, Risa suspects some spirit must have latched on to her. For the same reason, Indy and Niko from her team arrive at the young woman’s house to perform a cleansing ritual. Prinsa’s adverse reaction to this ritual reveals the possible presence of Uwa Satirah’s spirit. Over the next few days, Prinsa continues with her life like normal during the days, experiencing random outbursts of anger. Meanwhile, when Indy and Niko stay with Bayu as guards at nighttime, the malevolent spirit comes alive in the woman.
Some of Prinsa’s more eccentric behavior–captured on camera and later shared with Risa further hints toward the possibility of Satirah’s possession. Furthermore, eerie things begin happening around Risa’s house as well, with apparitions of her son appearing in and out of rooms without explanation. The same forces Risa to consult her father on the matter, who’s devastated to learn that his daughter accidentally shared Samex’s cursed name with the world. Thus, as he attempts to perform an exorcism ritual on Prinsa, the truth about her possession emerges.
Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati Ending: Who is Possessing Prinsa? What is Samex?
From the get-go, the severity of Prinsa’s predicament depends upon the identity of the spirit that has taken hold of her body. While all possessions are dangerous on different levels, the possibility of Samex possessing Prinsa remains the worst-case scenario. As per Risa, Samex is the kind of evil spirit who can take over their host’s body if they aren’t exorcised in five days. On the other hand, she also remains weary of the possibility that Uwa Satirah has taken control of the young woman.
Uwa Satirah was a friend of Risa’s grandma who passed away years ago. The two were born in the same village and continued living there for years to come. As they grew older, Satirah turned away from her religion. She started refusing to pray and rejecting prayer clothes that were shared with her. Shortly after her blasphemous activities, the woman arrived at her unnatural death. Since then, her memory is remembered in Risa’s household with fear and apprehension. However, after Risa goes to her father about Prinsa’s possession, she learns a new detail about Satirah’s story.
As it turns out, while Satirah was alive, she also fell victim to supernatural influence—primarily due to her welcomed appreciation of it. As a result, the villagers bound her spirit and gave her the name Samex. For the same reason, it stands to reason that the villagers can once again control Satirah’s spirit and help out Prinsa. Consequently, under Indy and Niko’s leadership, Risa’s crew travel to the village with Prinsa and Buya. Much to their surprise, eerie instances await them in the village, which seems to be under the bad luck of some sinister spell.
After meeting with the head and the elder at the village, Niko and the others discover the truth behind Satirah’s spirit and Samex. As it turns out, the village has been under the influence of some curse for some time now, and it has continued to terrorize the residents. From foiled agriculture to droughts, sickness, and death, the village has suddenly seen a surge in evil energy. They think Samex—the culmination of all evil energy and supernatural entities born from unnatural deaths in the community, which instinctually includes Satirah is to blame for the event.
Do The Villagers Save Prinsa?
As the days pass with Prinsa still under Samex’s possession, the young woman’s condition continues to get worse. She loses control of her body for extended periods of time, and her actions become more violent while in possession. Once Niko and the others bring her to Satirah’s village, the latter’s spirit takes complete control over the body, establishing her existence. On her part, Satirah maintains that she isn’t scared of any ritual that the elders from her village can push on her. Yet, the elders of the village have a firm plan in place.
They have already been participating in rituals to exorcise the Samex’s hold over the village. Consequently, they can prepare for a more taxing ritual that will open up the door between the mortal and the supernatural world. By doing so, they can force Satirah’s spirit from Prinsa’s body to move elsewhere. Therefore, as the night falls, the village prepares for the ritual. Even so, before the ritual begins, Prinsa manages to escape from their hold after stealing a baby from one of the locals. This remains particularly worrisome given the woman’s newfound interest in eating babies as an expression of her evil.
Fortunately, the villagers manage to find her in time and bind her with blood-covered mats. Thus, the ritual commences with the Jurnal Risa team and Buya sequestered in a different area for their safety. After Satirah professes her fondness for the fiery realm—likely hell— the elders bring out a goat. The idea remains that they can entice the spirit to exit Prinsa and move into the goat. In order to make the latter option seem appealing, they slit the goat’s throat and force-feed the blood to Satirah to instill a taste for it in the spirit. Soon enough, the scene devolves into complete chaos.
Prinsa gets loose from her confines and unleashes her menacing powers onto the others. This results in the Samex spirit possessing several other villagers, putting them under an evil spell. Yet, the elders attempt to keep the ritual going until Prinsa eventually becomes free of Satirah’s possession. In disarray, Jurnal Riya and Buya are denied answers to their questions as they’re advised to run far away from the village. Thus, the group leaves the villagers to their demise, taking a freshly-cured Prinsa with them. In the aftermath, Prsina emerges on the other side and returns to her happy and healthy self with an entirely new perspective on life.
Does The Village Banish Samex?
Even though the village fixes Prinsa’s troubles and saves the woman’s life, the Samex still continues to live on. Since the Samex and spirits of any kind and supernatural forces exist outside of the world’s natural order, neither Risa nor the villagers have anything that can banish these spirits. While binding and coaxing spirits out of certain bodies work, there’s nothing that can entirely stop these spirits from existing. Therefore, after the spirit opens up the gateway to hell, allowing the spirits and the Samex in the village to grow stronger, it inflicts an unheable wound on the community.
As a result, others become possessed, and chaos reigns over the residents. Unfortunately, after Prinsa’s exit from the village, the elders stop working with the documentary people to allow them further access to their land. Considering the kind of tragedy that the Samex unleashes upon the villagers after the ritual, it remains understandable that the elders wish to deal with the issue among themselves. Unlike Prinsa and the others, these villagers can’t simply escape the village since their lives and livelihoods are connected to the land. Therefore, despite the curse that rules the land, they have to stay in their community in the hope of fighting the evil spirits.
In the end, Risa also remains in the dark about the village’s predicament. Still, she harbors immense guilt for the recent events since it was her error that brought these series of events upon everyone else. Had the woman never spoken Samex’s name in her podcast, Prinsa couldn’t have evoked the spirit through Satirah and fuelled its dangerous power. As such, as she continues in her career, she encourages others never to speak or even think of Samex with conviction lest they may bring the spirit’s wrath into their lives.
The film’s ominous ending, without firm resolutions and answers, furthers the horror and sense of dread that Prinsa’s tale depicts. Ultimately, the lack of resolution behind the village’s fate becomes a tool to enhance the foreboding nature of the evil spirits—particularly the Samex. Consequently, the film ends on a partially open end, compelling audiences to steep in horror of the events, fuelling their fears further.
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