Created by Joko Anwar, the Netflix’s anthology series, Nightmares and Daydreams, is made of seven seemingly disconnected episodes. But with each passing story, it becomes clear that all of them are connected via the shenanigans emerging from the mythological realm of Agartha. As the legend goes, Agartha is a kingdom that exists somewhere between Earth’s surface and hell, I guess. I’m sure you are familiar with the concept of the hollow Earth theory that has been popularized by MonsterVerse. So, think of it that way. Agartha is a world between worlds and is apparently home to demi-gods, also known as “asuras.” This connecting thread doesn’t become all that apparent until the seventh and last episode. But since there are subtle and not-so-subtle hints to the existence of Agartha, and how its inhabitants influence the surface dwellers, bear with me as I go episode by episode to better understand in this ambitious and oddball tale of survival and resilience.
Spoiler alert
The first episode of Nightmares and Daydreams, titled Old House, seems to be a homage to Suspiria, A Cure for Wellness, and, well, every movie and TV show (for starters, Grimm) that involves witchcraft that extracts one’s vitality to increase the longevity of the caster of the spell. There is a cult that seems a lot like the one from The Void, and they worship these twin monsters who transfer the life force from a child to the parent who wants to stay young. The episode doesn’t exactly reveal the origins of these monsters, why they are in the dungeon, or why they are helping this cult, but later on, we find out that they are from an underground world called Agartha. In their home world, they are probably treated like ordinary folk, but in the human world, they are treated like gods. So, of course, they prefer to stay among the surface dwellers. Luckily or unluckily, they do meet their demise at the end of the episode, thanks to Panji, and they destroy every single member of their cult in the process. However, a single person (or demon) emerges from the ashes, which means that someone has survived the ordeal.
The second episode, titled The Orphan, is a modern version of the Grimm Brothers’ The Golden Goose fairy tale, where Syafin conjures gifts for Ipah and Iyos as long as they genuinely love him. Iyos’ arc has shades of The Shining and The Amityville Horror, as the dads in both of those films turn against their own families for no good reason. This short story is seemingly not connected to the rest of the overarching plot in any explicit way. But I do think there’s a connection between the four-fingered entity that emerges from the ashes in the first episode and Syafin, because the kid has four fingers. The first episode takes place in 2015, and the second episode takes place in 2024. Syafin seems to be around 9 years old. So, if the math checks out, then it’s okay to assume that Syafin is the result of whatever happened in the basement of the aforementioned nursing home. We are told that Agarthans are generally envious of humans, and that’s why they seek to corrupt them. Syafin is probably from Agartha, but he isn’t driven by malice, and that’s probably why he is humane and he uses his power to reward those who are empathetic.
The third episode, titled Poems and Pain, is the first story in Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams that acknowledges the existence of Agartha and the fact that the monsters from Agartha are tormenting humans to become powerful. Adrian is introduced in this episode, and he shows up in the last episode as well. This episode also establishes the fact that humans in this universe are capable of possessing supernatural powers. Panji repelled the monsters with his will, and Ipah and Iyos didn’t exhibit any such special qualities. But Rania is able to possess not just her long-lost sister but Adrian as well, albeit momentarily. It shows us that these Agarthans have jet-black eyes, and a mark appears on their forearm if a psychic or telepathic individual tries to control them. Maybe it is some kind of protective spell that prevents humans from controlling the Agarthans in any way and gaining access to their underworld kingdom before they can rule Earth. The connection between the twins (Laras and Rania) did remind me of Constantine (which is a great movie, BTW).
The fourth episode, which is titled Encounter, much like the third episode, shows that humans can have superpowers as we see the docile Wahyu levitate over everyone. In addition to the world of mortals and the underworld (Agartha), this episode confirms the existence of this universe’s version of heaven and angels. These angels are apparently capable of taking the form of the person who comforts the human that is looking at them. In addition to that, they are capable of taking humans to a realm that exists somewhere in space (or at least they are capable of creating the illusion of being in space). This angel gives Wahyu a synopsis of the world. A lot of it is stock footage, but what’s noteworthy are the recurring images of a pair of twins, Agartha, and what seems to be the world on fire. The twins can be a nod to the twin demons or Rania and Laras. The shot of Agartha is a very obvious hint at the source of the threat. And the fiery globe is a warning that if Wahyu fails to unite humans, superpowered or not, against the might of Agarthans, then the world is going to burn.
There are a lot of overt homages to The Shining in the fifth episode, which is titled The Other Side. For the most part, this short story is quite self-contained. It’s only towards the end that it reveals yet another monster who has emerged from Agartha. It is capable of manipulating lost souls into thinking that they are living the life that they are nostalgic about. But, in reality, they are doing the monster’s bidding. It’s unclear what the monster wants to do with all those humans that it has collected in the forests of Jakarta. If I have to guess, I’ll say that it will eat all of them and satiate its soul. Much like episodes three and four, this episode also shows that humans who are driven by love are capable of repelling an Agarthan monster’s manipulative powers if they put their minds to it. Since Dewi stabs the monster in the stomach, she proves that these Agarthans aren’t invincible and can be hurt if the attacker doesn’t panic and has the presence of mind to attack at the opportune moment.
The sixth episode, which is titled Hypnotized, shows that between 1997 and 2022, Dewi dedicated her life to perfecting her telepathic skills and forming an anti-Agartha squad that can take on any kind of demon that emerges from that hellscape. Her hypnosis ability is so strong that it can make people do anything that Dewi wants them to. Since Dewi acts as the antagonist of Ali’s arc of self-acceptance, no new monsters are introduced in this episode. That said, we do learn that Ali’s son and Rania’s best friend and publisher share the same first name, Hendra. Apart from that, the rest of the episode seems to be heavily inspired by movies like Get Out, and the shot of Ali dangling from the clock tower is an obvious homage to Buster Keaton’s Safety Last!, where the famous action movie star dangled from the hands of a gigantic clock.
The seventh and final episode, titled P.O. Box, is where it all comes together. We see that the aforementioned Agarthans have become a tightly-knit organization that effortlessly preys on humans without calling too much attention to themselves. Their latest method is a vague job application that attracts the best of the best to a dungeon-like place, and then they eat them. The brain-eating scene is a homage to the 2001 film Hannibal, and all the head-popping explosions did remind me of Victoria Neuman’s superpower from The Boys (which has recently released its fourth season).
As per Nightmares and Daydreams, the demigod-like “asuras” from Agartha are as old as humans, but they are jealous of the surface dwellers because they were relegated to the underground for some reason or another. Now, they are trying to conquer Earth by eradicating or enslaving humans. Since the ‘80s, the gods have been giving subliminal signs to certain special humans that they have superpowers they need to use to beat these Agarthans. Wahyu was the first one, and then he was joined by Dewi, Ali, Panji, Rania, and Laksmi, and their latest recruit is Valdya. They are called the Antibodies, and much like the proteins produced by our body’s immune system, this group is willing to risk it all to keep the planet safe and kill all Agarthans (except for the good ones like Syafin, I guess). Well, those are the connections and references that I was able to catch while watching Nightmares and Daydreams. If you have noticed something interesting that I have missed, please feel free to share it with us in the comments section.
