Indonesian director Danial Rifki’s remake of Spanish thriller “The Invisible Guest,” which he says was completed in 2023 before exclusivity clauses with HBO held up its release, finally reached the big screen at Jakarta World Cinema.
It is one of three Rifki films at the festival.
The Falcon Pictures production, which reworks Oriol Paulo’s 2016 hit “Contratiempo” for an Indonesian setting, stars Reza Rahadian, Mawar de Jongh and Arifin Putra. It debuted on HBO Max on Aug. 7.
Rifki tells Variety that the matter has only recently been resolved.
He also has two new features at the festival: romantic comedy “Tua Tua Keladi” and thriller “Sandal Jepit No. 10.”
Set among the older residents of a small village, “Tua Tua Keladi” follows the chaos that breaks out when a chemical leak into the village water supply stirs up desire. Unspoken feelings, long-held confessions and passion come out overnight.
“I was thinking, if they have young energy to live the second life, [it is] the second chance to love,” Rifki says.
He wanted the film to challenge a deep-rooted assumption that older people no longer live with energy. For all the awkwardness of its premise, the film keeps away from eroticism, even with its younger characters.
In the digital era, Rifki says, people can record their sexual behavior openly – “and sometimes that kind of freaks me out because I have a daughter. I’m concerned if my daughter [is exposed to] wild media.”
“So with the young characters, I try to approach them with something pure, not physical,” he says.
“Sandal Jepit No. 10” is a confined-space thriller about the brutal police interrogation of Akbar, a grieving father detained on suspicion of murder.
“Indonesians have trauma in politics. Life back in the days of Orde Baru – the New Order in the Suharto era – for around 32 years, we could not criticize the government,” Rifki says. “Now we have the Reformation Era, but it might be happening underground. On social media, if you criticize the government, they will shadowban [your comment].”
“We are the low class of society with this kind of fear that, if we do something, someone with power will oppress us. So the movie is about how to fight back,” he says.
“If you have social media, netizens are here to help you out. People power now is turning [to] a digital era so we can gain that power again. I’m still sure that [there are] many good people,” he adds.
Rifki says the film grew out of his concern over abuse of power in Indonesia today.
“[When I was] a film student, I really wanted to try how to speak in rom-com, thriller, drama, and other genres. [I’m] an evolving and growing filmmaker still in the making,” he says.
The backbone of all his work, he says, is human moral conflict, whatever the genre. He is also keen to try action and horror.
His next film, “Before Thirty,” is set for release in January 2027. Rifki calls it a “survival drama” about a 29-year-old man whose life is failing.
“In Indonesia, people always ask: what is your achievement before 30? Young people are punished by that value that you have to be successful before the age of 30,” Rifki says.
The film, he says, is his “commentary on that issue.”