that sinks its hooks into the viewer and refuses to let go." In The Jakarta Post, Reyzando Nawara gave a positive review, commenting on the film's relevance to Indonesian society, saying it "makes a very compelling argument about the evils of abused power and the danger it presents" across multiple generations. In Kompas, Mohammad Hilmi Faiq described the film as a new peak for Anwar. Some reviewers in American publications commented that Impetigore was not too scary as it instead put emphasis on Indonesian cultural elements. Dennis Harvey wrote a positive review in Variety, praising the film's production design and sound, calling it a "handsome and atmospheric production" and "good, sometimes grisly fun that’s not terribly scary, particularly once hectic climactic events prove less suspenseful than the slow-burn buildup". Harvey critiqued the film's later acts, saying that the "convoluted later mix of chase scenes and explanatory flashbacks [feel] more like an awkward pileup of miscellaneous genre tropes". On RogerEbert.com, Peter Sobczynski gave the film three and a half out of four stars, commending film's style and use of Indonesian folklore, but criticising some elements of the ending. He particularly highlighted the film's opening sequence, calling it "electrifying" and "absolutely spellbinding". In Screen Daily, Wendy Ide commended the film's atmosphere but critiqued its use of exposition, calling it "entertaining, pulpy horror, [that] focuses more on incorporating Indonesian cultural elements rather than delivering neatly packaged scares". Jacob Stolworthy in The Independent called the film "a must-watch for fans of scary films". In a more mixed review, James Marsh in South China Morning Post rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and said the film was "unevenly paced and fails to capitalise on its grisly premise", but praised Basro's performance. Marco- Ferrarese in Al Jazeera highlighted Impetigore as part of a new wave of low-budget horror films bringing attention to Southeast Asia's film industry, alongside Malaysian film Roh. Accolades Impetigore received a record 17 nominations and went on to be the biggest winner at the 2020 Indonesian Film Festival, the first for a horror film in the history of the Citra Awards. In accepting the award for Best Director, Anwar expressed his hope that the Indonesian film industry could raise its international profile, and said he believed that the COVID-19 pandemic had halted its progress when Indonesian film was "at its peak". In November 2020, it was selected as the Indonesian official