Busy in thought: Gading Marten (left) and Dinda Kanyadewi share a scene in the movie. (Courtesy of Rapi Films)

Author and comedian Raditya Dika’s latest movie Hangout mixes comedy and mystery.

The latest film from comedian and author Raditya Dika is untypical of him. If his previous work is all about romantic relationships and comedy inducing love stories, then Hangout is a sharp turn away from that.

It’s still a comedy though; a light, funny and entertaining piece centered on a murder mystery in which the skills of the ensemble cast and the flow of the story blend nicely.

Another reason that makes the thriller-comedy stand out is the loose script that the cast fills with their own observations on what the characters should be. The actors in the film end up creating parodies of themselves.

As the dialogue is genuinely theirs — the characters are named after them — they have no problems exploiting the public references to their on- and off-screen lives and personalities. The jokes are much funnier when they come from their own mouths.

Actress Prilly Latuconsina, for example, is howling to the full moon in a scene — a habit that stays after two years of playing as a wolf girl in a teen TV series, she says. In other scene, Gading Marten has to deal with the fact that many people follow him on social media because they are big fans of his toddler girl Gempi and he is not even as popular as his seasoned actor father Roy Marten.

All the ruckus starts when eight actors and a YouTube personality receive an invitation for a trip to a private island from an enigmatic producer named Toni P. Sancalu.

The eight actors, namely Raditya Dika — the director and scriptwriter of the film, Prilly, Gading, Surya Saputra, Titi Kamal, Soleh Salihun, Dinda Kanyadewi, Mathias Muchus and vlogger Bayu Skak, arrive at a deserted resort house in the middle of nowhere, while the boat that took them there will pick them up in two days.

Before the night ends, Muchus dies of food poisoning from a substance-laced spoon he uses at dinner. Muchus is followed by Prilly, who falls off a cliff. The murder spree continues into the next day, leaving the survivors suspicious of one another.

There are some unexpected twists and turns in the movie that is full of references to popular movies such as Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What’s Up With Love?), Arisan!, Kung Fu Hustle, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s This is The End and even Hunger Games. But the most welcome element of surprise in the movie is the cast themselves with the rapport they have with each other.

The serene Titi Kamal is shown as a tomboy who knows how to survive in a forest. Dinda is the carefree, unhygienic beauty, while Surya is the clean-and-order freak who cracks overnight.

Bayu with a camera attached to his hand serves as a nice distraction. Prilly pulls off the emotional arc of her character while the fast-talker with twisted logic Soleh, a stand-up comedian, has a good command of setting up the comic tone.

The unpredictable end of the movie must have lured over 120,000 viewers during its premiere on Dec. 22, partly thanks to the trailer, which had been seen by over 1 million people in just a couple of days.

Hangout is a successful first try from Raditya, and perhaps the whole cast, in delivering a lively choice for holiday entertainment.

_________________________

Hangout

(Rapi Films, 101 minutes)

Director/Script: Raditya Dika

Cast: Raditya Dika, Prilly Latuconsina, Soleh Salihun, Titi Kamal, Bayu Skak, Mathias Muchus,

Dinda Kanyadewi, Surya Saputra, Gading Marten.

Rating: 13+

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