Impetigore (2019)

In Jakarta, toll booth workers Maya and Dini are attacked by a man with a machete, who calls Maya "Rahayu" before the police shoot him. Maya owns an old photo of herself as a child with her parents in front of a large house. Believing she may have inherited the house, Maya and Dini travel to the remote village of Harjosari to sell it.

The villagers are cold and suspicious. Maya learns that many babies in the village are born without skin and die young, and the cemetery is full of their graves. Dini is lured away by villagers, who believe she is Rahayu, and she is killed and skinned.

Maya discovers the village's history. About 20 years ago, the wealthy puppeteer Donowongso was said to have made a deal with the devil, sacrificing three girls to cure his daughter Rahayu, who was born without skin. Since then, every baby in the village has been born skinless. To end the curse, the skins of the three girls, made into wayang kulit shadow puppets, must be buried.

The truth is darker. Maya is Rahayu, but she was born from an affair between Donowongso's wife, Shinta, and Ki Saptadi, the village chief and puppeteer. Saptadi's mother, the witch Nyi Misni, cursed the baby. Saptadi later massacred the puppet troupe and framed Donowongso. As a child, Rahayu was rescued by a servant and given a new name, Maya.

Maya buries the puppets, but Nyi Misni captures her to sacrifice her. Saptadi kills himself, and Nyi Misni follows. Soon after, the first healthy baby in 20 years is born, and the villagers let Maya go. A year later, Nyi Misni's ghost appears and devours a baby that has been miscarried, showing that her evil lives on.

Who is Maya really? Maya is Rahayu. She is the child of Shinta and Ki Saptadi, born from an affair, and was cursed by Saptadi's mother, Nyi Misni.

Why were the village babies born without skin? Because of the curse tied to Rahayu and the three girls whose skins were turned into shadow puppets. Burying the puppets breaks the curse.

Was Donowongso the villain? No. He was framed. Saptadi massacred the puppet troupe and blamed him.

What does the final scene mean? A year later, Nyi Misni's ghost devours a miscarried baby. Even with the curse broken, her evil has not gone away.

What does the title mean? The original title, Perempuan Tanah Jahanam, means "Woman from the Damned Land". The English title combines "impetigo", a skin disease, with "gore".