Satan's Slaves 2: Communion
When the heavy storm hits, it wasn't the storm that a family should fear but the people and non-human entities who are out for them.
Despite its small-scale budget of $1.0M, Satan's Slaves 2: Communion became a runaway success, earning $14.3M worldwide—a remarkable 1334% return. The film's bold vision found its audience, showing that strong storytelling can transcend budget limitations.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Satan's Slaves 2: Communion (2022) exemplifies deliberately positioned story structure, characteristic of Joko Anwar's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 59 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.2, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes The Suwono family lives in a cramped apartment building, still traumatized and haunted by supernatural events. Rini watches over her younger siblings in their new temporary home, maintaining a fragile sense of normalcy despite lingering dread.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 15 minutes when Ian encounters the ghost of their mother in the elevator and follows her to the forbidden fourth floor. This direct supernatural encounter confirms that the family is not safe, and the apartment building itself is a nexus of dark forces actively pursuing them.. At 13% through the film, this Disruption is delayed, allowing extended setup of the story world. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 30 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This reveals the protagonist's commitment to Rini actively decides to investigate the fourth floor and the building's secrets rather than remain passive victims. She chooses to confront the supernatural forces directly, crossing into active opposition against the dark powers hunting her family., moving from reaction to action.
At 60 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat Rini discovers the horrifying truth: the entire apartment building was built by the cult as a trap, and all residents are families marked for demonic collection. What seemed like a refuge is actually a prison. The revelation shifts the story from "can we escape?" to "can we survive the coming ritual?"., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 89 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Ian is taken by the cult, and Rini is separated from all her siblings as the building transforms into a hellish maze. Her father Bahri is killed by the possessed cult members. Rini loses everything she was fighting to protect, and the family unit—her core motivation—is destroyed., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 95 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Rini realizes that the cult's power depends on the victims' acceptance of their fate. She chooses defiance over surrender, using her mother's occult knowledge against the cult itself. Armed with understanding of the ritual's mechanics and pure determination to save her siblings, she enters the final confrontation., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Satan's Slaves 2: Communion's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping Satan's Slaves 2: Communion against these established plot points, we can identify how Joko Anwar utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Satan's Slaves 2: Communion within the drama genre.
Joko Anwar's Structural Approach
Among the 2 Joko Anwar films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.2, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Satan's Slaves 2: Communion represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Joko Anwar filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman. For more Joko Anwar analyses, see Satan's Slaves.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
The Suwono family lives in a cramped apartment building, still traumatized and haunted by supernatural events. Rini watches over her younger siblings in their new temporary home, maintaining a fragile sense of normalcy despite lingering dread.
Theme
A neighbor warns the family: "The dead don't rest when they're called back." This establishes the film's exploration of how past sins and occult dealings continue to claim the living, and that attempting to escape evil may be futile when you've already been marked.
Worldbuilding
The family's new life in a government apartment complex for displaced families is revealed. The building has strange rules: no one goes out after dark, elevators malfunction, and other residents are secretive. Rini tries to protect her brothers Tony and Bondi and deaf younger brother Ian, while their father Bahri works constantly. The oppressive atmosphere and mysterious neighbors create mounting unease.
Disruption
Ian encounters the ghost of their mother in the elevator and follows her to the forbidden fourth floor. This direct supernatural encounter confirms that the family is not safe, and the apartment building itself is a nexus of dark forces actively pursuing them.
Resistance
The family attempts to understand the building's mysteries while experiencing escalating supernatural attacks. They debate whether to stay or flee, but have nowhere else to go. Rini investigates the building's history and discovers the other residents are hiding something. A mysterious older resident hints at the building's dark purpose but won't speak plainly.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Rini actively decides to investigate the fourth floor and the building's secrets rather than remain passive victims. She chooses to confront the supernatural forces directly, crossing into active opposition against the dark powers hunting her family.
Mirror World
Rini forms a tentative alliance with Wisnu, a young man in the building who has also lost family to the supernatural forces. This relationship represents an alternative to isolation and secrecy—the possibility of fighting back together and breaking the cycle of victimhood.
Premise
The horror premise fully unfolds: Rini and her siblings navigate supernatural attacks, uncover the building's connection to a satanic cult, and discover the residents are all marked families. The film delivers escalating scares, revelations about their mother's pact, and the realization that the building is a collection point for souls promised to dark forces.
Midpoint
Rini discovers the horrifying truth: the entire apartment building was built by the cult as a trap, and all residents are families marked for demonic collection. What seemed like a refuge is actually a prison. The revelation shifts the story from "can we escape?" to "can we survive the coming ritual?"
Opposition
The cult begins the final ritual to claim all the marked souls in the building. Supernatural attacks intensify, residents are possessed or killed, and the family is systematically separated. Rini's attempts to protect her siblings become increasingly desperate as the demonic forces close in from all sides. Her father is revealed to have known more than he admitted.
Collapse
Ian is taken by the cult, and Rini is separated from all her siblings as the building transforms into a hellish maze. Her father Bahri is killed by the possessed cult members. Rini loses everything she was fighting to protect, and the family unit—her core motivation—is destroyed.
Crisis
Rini, alone and broken, faces the depth of her mother's betrayal and the futility of her protection. She confronts her own despair and the possibility that her entire family is damned. In her darkest moment, she must decide whether to surrender to the inevitable or fight even without hope.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Rini realizes that the cult's power depends on the victims' acceptance of their fate. She chooses defiance over surrender, using her mother's occult knowledge against the cult itself. Armed with understanding of the ritual's mechanics and pure determination to save her siblings, she enters the final confrontation.
Synthesis
Rini fights through the ritual chamber, disrupts the ceremony, and attempts to rescue her siblings from possession. She combines her knowledge of the cult's methods with fierce protective love, confronting both demonic entities and possessed cultists. The finale is a desperate battle against overwhelming supernatural forces as the building itself becomes a portal.
Transformation
Rini emerges with her surviving siblings, but the victory is pyrrhic. They escape the building as it burns, but the final image reveals they remain marked—the cult's influence is not destroyed, only delayed. Rini has transformed from protected daughter to hardened protector, but the cycle of supernatural persecution continues.