Mauvaise impression

Debut filmmaker Wregas Bhanuteja comes up with a powerful tech-thriller that shines in almost every department. I'm blown away by how he interweaves multiple elements within the plot, embeds them within Indonesia's socio-economic layers, telling a universally relatable tale. The characterization of the lead(s) is also worth a mention. At its core, Photocopier is a mystery - one that seeks to unearth events that happened during a night of drunken partying hosted by a theater group's playwright. The protagonist Sur (a magnificent Shenina Cinnamon) is the one who gets the short end of the stick. Some drunk selfies posted on her social media results in a loss of a scholarship, but her worries go far beyond that. As she digs deeper into what went down, she realizes that there's more to it than she initially thought.

While this mystery is solidly put together with a good number of twists and turns, Photocopier also revolves around the theme of abuse - especially of privacy, alongside physical and mental health. The film manages to inventively touch upon several aspects of human life even when it's busy keeping us on edge. These include friendship, breach of trust, betrayal, conservatism, fetishes, aesthetics, performing arts, and even an epidemic. The camera constantly follows the protagonist as she hustles her way through the streets of Jakarta in search of answers. The climactic finale is the icing on the cake, proving to be the most wildly effective cinematic ending for this particular story. And it also reinstates the significance of the film's title while at it!

It's a long film, but a story many girls and women all over the world will be all too familiar with. And the struggles women have to fight against the system. Especially with people pushing doubt towards them, and their stories.

The ending is the most powerful thing about the film, and was incredibly inspiring.

The movie tells a story, tells us something that is not just impactful but important. Now having said, it does take its time. So pacing wise, even if you agree with people loving this, you are allowed to disagree with the execution of the movie and how it deals or handles certain aspects.

Having said all that, the last impression is quite the strong one. We see what our main character goes through, what she has to endure and what is being said. If you have a moral compass that has the "right" settings, you will be left quite angry at times ... a lot of times that is. On the other hand, maybe that ending will change that .. not sure if it is enough, but it is quite the image it creates - no pun intended.

Wonderfully shot and expertly executed. Photocopier dives deep into the dark side of Indonesian culture and does not pull it's punches exploring treatment of women, mental illness and exploitation of the poor whilst overlaying with more universal thenes around friendship, trust, socioeconomic power dynamics and young adulthood.

Performances leap off the screen engaging the audience emotionally and holding one there throughout the duration. Pacing and in the edit is well thought out.

Everyone involved in this film should be thoroughly proud. We want to see more stories of this calibre on our screens.

Photocopier

I saw the trailer on Netflix's YouTube channel, and I was really intrigued, especially by the accolades I saw it was getting before it got acquired by Netflix. I was also sceptical to see it, because it's an Indonesian movie, and I'm sure I've not watched anything from that country.

I couldn't exactly remember the trailer as I was seeing the movie, and I think that's good, because everything felt fresh. The phrase 'never judge a book by its cover' or in this case 'never judge a movie by its country of origin' rings absolutely true!

A pure cinematic wonder from start to finish! The movie packs a sprawling number of elements and ties them all fastidiously. The finale is so emotive and inspiring, and seeing how it relates to the title of the movie holds much more value. The plot, the pacing, the runtime, the cast... Perfecto!

Definitely one of the best movies I've seen in a long while, and It's a definite recommendation. I'm excited to see more Indonesian movies.