Aahana Swrup
Netflix’s Indonesian horror film ‘Curse of the Seven Seas,’ originally known as ‘Santet Segoro Pitu’ follows the story of a family that falls victim to a menacing curse. At a young age, Ardi undergoes an incident in which his third eye is opened, allowing him to catch glimpses of evil spirits that are looming over the mortal realm. Years later, his father, Sucipto, a tradesman at the local marketplace, comes across a strange package that turns out to be a cursed talisman. As a result, the businessman and his family end up becoming targets for malicious black magic. Consequently, it’s up to Ardi and his younger sister, Syifa, to undertake a quest that will undo the evil influence over their family. Nonetheless, as the curse grows stronger, the duo runs the risk of running out of time before they can save their father from a tragic end. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Curse of the Seven Seas Plot Synopsis
When Sucipto’s son, Ardi, is in the hospital, awaiting surgery, the father fortunately makes enough money at his marketplace shop to pay the hospital bills. Although the operation goes well, the boy becomes plagued with visions of evil spirits after he awakens. As a result, his father takes him to Mr. Rustam, who dabbles in spiritualism. He reveals that the surgery has opened the young boy’s third eye, forcing him to see beyond what is visible to others. Even though there is no way to block this ability now, he subdues it a bit to grant Ardi some relief. Furthermore, he warns him to stay away from the marketplace since it’s a place of trade where fraud, deceit, and lies run rampant.
Thus, years pass, and Ardi avoids his father’s workplace. Simultaneously, Sucipto’s business takes off in unbelievable ways, making his store the most bustling place in the market. However, this seems to increase the rivalry he has with his brother-in-law, Sardi, another shop owner who owns a grudge against him. On the morning that Ardi overhears an argument between them, something strange happens to his father. Sucipto finds a cursed talisman outside his shop that invites haunting noises and an invisible presence into his life. That same night, he has a nightmare about a shaman performing a ritual to curse him and his entire family. From then on, his health begins to deteriorate vehemently.
Consequently, Ardi grows suspicious of his uncle, believing Sardi to be behind the black magic. Soon enough, his younger brother, Arif, also falls victim to another cursed talisman—which inevitably leads to his gruesome death. Around the same time, Sucipto also develops chronic brain dysfunction. This compels Ardi to seek out guidance from Mr. Rustam again, who reveals that a strange and unrecognizable curse has overtaken the family. Until he can understand its nature, he can only offer talismans as protection. Meanwhile, Ardi takes over the store’s responsibility in his father’s absence and realizes that the success of the business is rapidly plummeting.
Things come to a head once Ardi’s mother, Marni, becomes the spell’s next target. As a result, the boy confronts his uncle in anger, only to find a different, more menacing truth. Sardi reveals that in his desperation, Sucipto had contacted a Shaman to use black magic and grow his business. However, dabbling in the dark arts led him to make a dangerous nemesis, a fellow merchant, Wicack, who has now come after him. Even though Ardi doesn’t want to believe it, all evidence points toward the same. Eventually, the curse takes Marni’s life as well. Inversely, Rustam also finds a solution for their troubles in time. The man reveals that in order to reverse the curse, Ardi must fully open his third eye and embark on a quest to collect the water from the seven sea shores. Consequently, Ardi and Syifa decide to undertake this journey together, facing incredible dangers in the process.
Curse of the Seven Seas Ending: Who Saves Ardi and Syifa on the Beach?
On their quest, Ardi and Syifa must travel to the seven coasts where Wicack and his shaman have cemented altars of their menacing ritual. The siblings have to neutralize these altars and collect the water from the seven coasts before their father’s birthday in order to perform the exorcising ritual. Each beach that they visit is guarded by a different spirit. Since their third eyes are open, the brother-sister duo can remain vigilant of these spirits and avoid them in time to make their escapes. However, on day 3, the two almost succumb to the beach’s menacing guardian.
Fortunately for them, a different apparition riding on a chariot shows up and rescues them in the nick of time. The stranger also has an urn full of the beach’s water—an apparent gift from an elusive queen. Although the peculiar savior leaves without any other clarification, some information about this Queen can be garnered through an earlier conversation between Ardi and Arif. Of the three siblings, young Arif was most interested in the spiritual world and his brother’s tether to it due to his ability to see apparitions. As such, he read up on the topic a lot and learned about the Queen of the South.
As the lore goes, the Queen of the South is the ruler of the coast in Southern Java with some sort of a connection to the color green. Considering the strange savior was adorned in green garb, it seems fair to assume he is a messenger loyal to the same Queen. Her morality has been questioned before. Yet, this act of kindness in Ardi’s fight against Suanggi, the demonic presence haunting his family, makes it clear that she at least stands against the adverse usage of dark magic. Alternatively, it’s also possible that she has a rivalry with the demon, which compels her to send help to his new enemies.
How Does Ardi Save His Father?
Once Ardi and Syifa return home with the water from the beaches, they stand a fighting chance against Suanggi’s hold on their father. However, by then, the demon had grown powerful too. As such, when the siblings return, they find Rustam and Sardi’s remains scattered around the house. Still, they refuse to give up and attempt to finish the ritual themselves by sprinkling the holy water over their father and praying for the demon’s banishment. This allows them to carry forward the purification ritual that Rustam had initiated before his death. In turn, Suanggi puts up a great fight, flinging the kids around the house and attempting to kill them before they can succeed in exorcising him.
Nevertheless, the siblings continue fighting, taking turns to distract Suanggi while the other performs the ritual. Eventually, as the demon drags Sucipto from his bed, Ardi takes a chance and launches the final beach water directly onto the demon. This has a fatalistic effect on Suanggi, who begins to burn where it stands. As a result, his influence over Sucipto finally disappears. The man finally emerges from his near-brain-dead state and is able to reunite with his family. Afterward, he and his kids visit his shaman, who has also recovered from her ailment since Suanggi’s defeat. The merchant realizes that his reliance on black magic for professional success has taken too much out of his life, including the lives of his wife and kid. Therefore, he vows to stop dabbling in the dark arts. This allows Ardi and his life some closure and an opportunity to heal from their still-fresh wounds.
Why Did Wicak Put a Curse on Ardi’s Father?
Even though Ardi and his family had been aware that a curse had befallen them, they couldn’t figure out its origins for the longest time. Therefore, they’re helpless to prevent Arif’s death from Marni’s sickness. Nonetheless, once the young boy reaches out to his Uncle Sardi, the reality of Wickam’s involvement in the curse emerges, revealing his rivalry with Sucipto. As it turns out, the root behind this animosity was the latter’s foray into black magic for the success of his business. While Sucipto’s business bloomed under the influence of his Shaman’s actions, others grew envious of him.
Therefore, Sucipto’s suspicious success attracted the wrong kind of attention over the years. Eventually, Wicack grew tired of his prosperity and colluded with a Shaman of his own. With her help, he cursed Marni to fill her stomach with nails as a way to get to her husband. In retaliation, Sucipto sent a different curse on Wicak’s way, which ended up leading to his daughter’s death. Consequently, burning with grief and a need for revenge, the merchant contacted an even stronger Shaman. She used dark magic from the East to inflict the curse of the seven seas on Sucipto and his family through taxing evil rituals. In the end, Ardi defeats Suanggi, which leads to Wicak and his Shaman’s demise. Since their plan has failed, the demonic creature returns to exact revenge on them and delivers them to their grueling deaths.
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