Danial Rifki on Suharto-Era Fear: 'Sandal Jepit No. 10' Is About 'How to Fight Back'

Indonesian director Danial Rifki premiered three films at this year's Jakarta World Cinema, including a remake of the Spanish thriller "The Invisible Guest" that he says was finished in 2023 and then held back for two years by exclusivity clauses with HBO.

The film debuted on HBO Max on Aug. 7, Rifki told Variety, and the contractual matter has only recently been resolved. The Falcon Pictures production reworks Oriol Paulo's 2016 hit "Contratiempo" for an Indonesian setting. It stars Reza Rahadian, Mawar de Jongh and Arifin Putra.

Rifki's two other festival features take sharply different turns.

What happens in 'Tua Tua Keladi'?

The romantic comedy "Tua Tua Keladi" is set among the older residents of a small village. A chemical leak into the village water supply stirs up desire, and 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 avoids eroticism, even with its younger characters.

Rifki frames that choice as personal. In the digital era, he 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.

Why does the interrogation thriller recall Suharto?

"Sandal Jepit No. 10" is a confined-space thriller about the brutal police interrogation of Akbar, a grieving father detained on suspicion of murder. The film grew out of Rifki's concern over abuse of power in Indonesia today.

"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.

He sees digital tools as the counterweight. "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.

What comes next?

Rifki describes himself as a filmmaker still testing genres. "[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, and a commentary on the pressure put on young Indonesians.

"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," he says.

By Marcus Bennett