GHOST IN THE CELL
(director/writer: Joko Anwar; cinematographer: Ical Tanjung; editor: Joko Anwar; music: Aghi Narottama; cast: Endy Arfian (Dimas), Abimana Aryasatya (Anggoro), Yoga Pratima (Six, inmate can see the ghost), Mike Lucock (Wildan, Muslim inmate), Aming Suganndhi (Tokek); Runtime: 106; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Tia Hasbuan; Well Go USA; 2026-Indonesia/S.Korea-in Indonesian, with English subtitles)
“A sure-bet cult favorite.“
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A unique off-beat prison-set comic/horror/ghost story by Indonesian filmmaker Joko Anwar (“Satan’s Slaves”/ “Communion”). Its political message is based on the 2005 anti-corruption protests in Jakarta.
It opens with a man impaled on his office’s ceiling fan. We’re next in a grimy Jakarta prison cell, run by cruel guards and a corrupt warden. The longtime prisoner Anggoro (Abimana Aryasatya), a decent sort, is a survivor who protects other prisoners and fights back against the brutal guards and thereby has years added to his sentence.
The supposed madman office killer, Dimas (Endy Arfian), an investigative journalist, investigating a mining scandal in Borneo, is sent to the prison after framed for the grizzly killing of his argumentative corrupt editor boss. His arrival brings about diabolical events, such as an evil ghost inexplicably ripping limbs from bodies and killing everyone inside the prison, one at a time. The causes for these strange events gets explored fully but in a ludicrous manner. The story also mixes in local politics, as it attacks the corrupt judicial system and affirms the necessity for those victimized to stand together to battle the societal wrongs.
The filmmaker loves all the prisoners except for the very violent Tokek (Aming Suganndhi), Dimas’s rapist, crazed, heavily tattooed cellmate, placed there by the bad guys.
It’s gory, funny and absurd. A horror pic worth seeing for being so well executed and entertaining. It’s a sure-bet cult favorite.
It played at the Fantastic Film Fest.
REVIEWED ON 11/11/2026 GRADE: B+
dennisschwartzreviews.com