NETFLIX REVIEW: Photocopier (2021, Wregas Bhanuteja)

Shenina Cinnamon in the leading role in Wregas Bhanuteja's #MeToo drama-thriller.

This #MeToo drama-thriller is set in Jakarta, about sexual assault on a university campus.

Indonesian filmmaker Wregas Bhanuteja’s debut feature focuses on Sur (Shenina Cinnamon), a young woman who thinks she was assaulted after a drunken night at a party. 

Sur, a religiously conservative but techno-savvy college scholar, runs the website of her school’s award-winning theater club, the Mata Hari. Culturally, she is sort of an outcast since the theater arts students are mostly sophisticated, liberal, and well off. Meanwhile, she has an ultra-strict father, and a mother who needs her home right after school. 

One day, Sur is invited to a Mata Hari party in the house of their wealthy assistant director, Rama (Giulio Parengkuan), with a promise of a lucrative gig as a website designer. The party turns rowdy, and despite her father’s warning not to drink alcohol, Sur is peer-pressured and caves in.

She wakes up the following morning with her life altered. To her horror, selfies of her drunk self go viral on social media. She loses her scholarship. Sur is aware she got drunk at the party — but she did not take selfies. 

With help from photocopier and computer shop operator Amin (Chicco Kurniawan), Sur launches her own investigation on what really happened at the party. With a father more concerned about her reputation and her education than her safety and well-being, Sur goes on a lonely search for the truth: Was she kidnapped? Was she drugged? Worse, was she raped?

Bhanuteja, who directed short films that have been screened at Cannes, Berlinale, and Sundance, paints his drama-thriller in a gorgeous, green motif. His Jakarta is lush and exotic, the greens and the earth tones often interrupted by smoke — the government’s response to the dengue outbreak. The smoke is more than aesthetic, though, a visual element to add to the undercurrent of suspense and frustration.

Chicco Kurniawan as Amin.

Photocopier is highly intriguing and keeps one glued to the screen as Sur tries to piece together what transpired on the fateful night. As the plot thickens and the truth unravels, the movie gets convoluted and too far-fetched (and even slightly pretentious). But it is redeemed by the sense of intrigue in the plot. Also, Cinnamon is captivating as Sur, lending her character a balance of vulnerability and strength.

Running over two hours, Photocopier feels bloated but nevertheless engaging and has quite a strong ending. This detective story may be too elaborate, but the #MeToo statement is powerful. 

Photocopier is a commendable commentary on patriarchy, society’s treatment of women, corruption, and sexual harassment.

3.5/5 stars
Netflix

Originally published in the Daily Tribune