Levitating kicks off with a level of ferociousness that is somewhat disorienting in the most appropriate way. By throwing the audience into the deep end of surreality, one is quickly able to calibrate to the distinct tone and rules of the story, and, hopefully, fall in love with all of its eccentric peculiarities. In the rural Latas Village in Indonesia, the community is known for its sambetan, a trance party that not only has deep ties to spiritual tradition but also serves as a form of escapism and entertainment. The euphoric mixture of pulsing rhythms and chanting is intoxicating from the very beginning, and you see the immediate results of everything going off without a hitch. While many are content to simply be a spectator at the party, there are those who succumb to the trance and literally go to another plane of existence, experiencing a form of euphoria tied to the spirit that is being invoked by the spirit-channeler—think of indulging in nourishing nectar from the butterfly spirit.
Director Wregas Bhanuteja makes the very wise choice of never viewing any of these traditions or actions through a lens of skepticism. Everything about these trance parties is treated matter-of-factly and with the utmost respect. There is nothing inherently harmful about participating in these possession rituals; there are just some people who want to pursue happiness away from the tangible world for a brief moment. Of course, there is always a chance the ritual will not go smoothly, which is often the case for Bayu (Angga Yunanda), a young man who has long served as an assistant spirit-channeler at one of the trance schools. To be a spirit-channeler, you need to have a calm mind and a purity of heart. In the opening scene, the fasting required to participate in the ritual leaves a very hungry Bayu distracted by visions of eggs and sausages, which permeate the reality of those under his specific trance.
If this were the only distraction for Bayu, things would seem a bit more manageable, but the real chaos comes from the home front. His father is saddled with a bad reputation around the village due to poor decision-making in the past, which forces him to consider selling the house and moving to Jakarta to start a new business venture with an old friend and potential romantic partner. This property is highly desired by a major hotel developer, which ties into the larger problem of this same developer trying to force the sale of a sacred spring in the village where one can go to search for spirits. With Guru Asri (Anggun), the head of the central trance school, looking for a new lead spirit-channeler to head a fundraising party to save the spring, Bayu hopes to finally prove himself in a way that can both save the spring and his house.
There is a lot going on from a narrative perspective—we haven’t even mentioned the romantic subplot—but the story boils down to the classic arc of the drive to be the best and the casualties of that ambition when you are blinded to everything and everyone else in your life. Sprinkle in some generational trauma and corporate greed, and you have the recipe for something pretty amazing. It is how this story is told that makes it so special. What if Miles Teller could play drums so well in Whiplash that it could make someone impervious to pain? Cinematographer Gunnar Nimpuno makes the hallucinatory world so tactile on screen with an ultrasensory experience filled with everything from food to flowers to massage tables. You buy into every spiritual notion the film throws at you. You are moved to see how these trances are benefiting the participants, and these qualities are amplified in really satisfying ways as the story develops.
There are various instruments used to embark on this practice, from standard drums and electric guitar to the slompret, a traditional wind instrument, favored by Bayu. Every trance is such a visceral experience, especially when paired with the chanting of Guru Asri. Together with the primal choreography of Siko Setyanto, which captures the blending of animal spirit and human catharsis, you will be hard-pressed to stay planted in your seat when moving feels like a necessity demanded by something greater.
Given how propulsive the film is in the first hour, it comes as a bit of a disappointment that the narrative becomes a bit sluggish when we start to hit the traditional bottoming out before the proper lessons are learned. Or, perhaps “slug” is the wrong insect to evoke, considering Bayu takes on the qualities of a leech spirit for what feels like an interminable amount of time in the latter half. Some of our favorite moments in the film are those between Bayu and Laksmi (Maudy Ayunda), a visitor to the area who agrees to be Bayu’s partner in the trances. Not only do they have a palpable romantic chemistry, but Laksmi also shows more practically how healing this mixture of music, movement, and spirituality can be. The movie could have been aided by a shorter runtime, but if it needed to stay this long, more time spent with this character would have been welcome.
Even if the movie does not live up to the dizzying highs of the opening hour, it sticks the landing firmly enough to send you out on a wave of euphoria. The movie is extremely ambitious and sincere—a sentiment of “hug your enemy” borders on naive—but we love it for everything it does right. And we forgive it when it falls short of greatness. It is a delight for the senses, spotlighting a rarely portrayed culture with great affection. Levitating is an exhilarating and singular journey that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible.
Levitating had its World Premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Director: Wregas Bhanuteja
Writers: Wregas Bhanuteja, Defi Mahendra, Alicia Angelina
Rated: NR
Runtime: 119m
Levitating is an exhilarating and singular journey that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
