In the Absence of the Sun

A portrait of 2010s Jakarta — chaotic, but beautiful. The film captures the city at night with visuals that feel both stunning and restless, while hinting at the darker secrets hidden beneath the surface. We see it all through the perspectives of three main female characters, whose intertwined problems collide over the course of one melancholic night that ends up changing their lives. I’m honestly still speechless that an Indonesian film can pull off a tone like this. Lucky Kuswandi is freaking great. I started watching it planning to just check out a bit before going to sleep, but I got more and more hooked as it went on — and yeah, I ended up watching the whole thing.