Indonesian films have been skyrocketing lately. The number of moviegoers in theaters this year reached 60 million by September, breaking the highest record since 1926. In addition to public enthusiasm, the national film industry is also entering a new wave of adaptations of true stories such as movies based on Twitter thread. That adds a new dimension to the domestic film industry.
Previously, besides original sources from directors and screenwriters, story ideas were usually taken from books or novels. One of the most famous is the adaptation of the novel Ayat-Ayat Cinta by Habiburrahman El Shirazy. In 2008, MD Pictures brought it to the big screen under the direction of Hanung Bramantyo.
The film Ayat-Ayat Cinta quickly became phenomenal and was watched by 3.7 million people, placing it among the highest-grossing Indonesian films of all time. The film also catapulted Fedi Nuril’s name as an actor specializing in portraying the character of a polygamous husband.
MD Pictures made history again with the film KKN di Desa Penari in 2022. The film has now become the highest-grossing of all time with over 10 million viewers.
Unlike Ayat-Ayat Cinta, which was adapted from a book, KKN di Desa Penari was based on a viral story on social media. After that, many other production houses also tried the formula of adapting films from viral stories. The genres are also diverse, ranging from horror to infidelity dramas that make you shake your head.
Here are 6 MD movies based on Twitter thread and inspired by true stories.
KKN di Desa Penari
This horror genre film began with a story from an X account named @SimpleMan. He wrote a thread about the complete storyline of KKN di Desa Penari in 2019, which eventually garnered a lot of readers and went viral. Due to its immense popularity, MD Pictures and Manoj Punjabi adapted it into a film directed by Awi Suryadi, which premiered in theaters on April 30, 2022.
KKN di Desa Penari tells the story of six students who conduct community service in a remote village, namely Nur (Tissa Biani), Widya (Adinda Thomas), Ayu (Aghniny Haque), Bima (Achmad Megantara), Anton (Calvin Jeremy), and Wahyu. (M. Fajar Nugraha). However, they never expected that the village they chose was not an ordinary village.
Pak Prabu (Kiki Narendra), the village chief, warned them not to cross the forbidden gate leading to a place called Tapak Tilas. As time went by, Nur and Widya began to be disturbed by the figure of a beautiful mysterious dancer who would later be known as Badarawuhi (Aulia Sarah).
Then, one by one, they began to feel the strangeness of the village, and Bima also started to change his attitude. Their KKN work program became chaotic, it seemed that the ghostly inhabitants of the village did not like them.
Nur finally discovered the shocking fact that one of them had violated the most fatal rule in the village.
The terror of the Badarawuhi figure became increasingly frightening, they tried to seek help from Mbah Buyut (Diding Boneng), the local shaman, but it was too late. In the end, they are threatened with not being able to return safely from the village known as Desa Penari.
This film has been a huge success in the market. Due to the high public enthusiasm, MD Pictures has finally re-released a longer version, titled KKN di Desa Penari: Luwih Dowo, Luwih Medeni, with an additional 40 minutes of new scenes.
Sewu Dino
Successful with the story of KKN di Desa Penari, SimpleMan once again shook the public with another horror story titled Sewu Dino. The Sewu Dino thread was released in 2019, two weeks after the KKN di Desa Penari story was published. SimpleMan also turned it into a novel, Sewu Dino.
MD Pictures then collaborated with director Kimo Stamboel to work on the film Sewu Dino based on SimpleMan’s thread.
Sewu dino in Javanese means ‘a thousand days’. It is said to be the most terrifying type of witchcraft used to annihilate an entire family by sacrificing the last descendant of the targeted family.
The film Sewu Dino begins with Sri (Mikha Tambayong), a village woman who wants to work in the city to cover her father’s medical expenses. The opportunity came when the Atmodjo family offered Sri a job as a domestic worker (PRT) with a high salary.
Sri was recruited to work alongside two other women, Erna (Givina Lukita) and Dini Agla Artalidia). After meeting their employer, Mbah Karsa (Karina Suwandi), the three of them were taken to the middle of the forest and stayed in a hut. Their task is to bathe Dela Atmodjo (Gisellma Firmansyah), Mbah Karsa’s granddaughter, for 1.000 days.
They were then introduced to Mbah Tamin (Pritt Timothy), the person in charge of the hut. Sri was shocked to see Dela, who looked like a living corpse: thin, pale, and her body covered in festering wounds. It turned out that Dela had been unconscious for a long time because she was under the thousand-day curse.
Sri then realized that the Atmodjo family had trapped them because the three of them were involved in a mystical pact. The lives of the three people were at risk of being lost if they dared to escape before the agreement ended, which was on the 1.000th day.
They were late to realize that the ritual of bathing Dela for 1,000 days aimed to calm the spirits of Sengarturih and Banarogo that were attached to Dela’s body.
Sewu Dino was released in theaters on April 19, 2023, and successfully attracted more than 4.8 million viewers.
Layangan Putus the Movie
This drama film is directed by Benni Setiawan based on a viral story on Facebook titled Layangan Putus by Mommy ASF.
Previously, Layangan Putus was first released in the form of a series by MD Pictures. The series aired on WeTV and Iflix from November 2021 to January 2022.
Because the story of the infidelity drama was very popular with the public, Layangan Putus the Movie finally premiered in theaters on December 21, 2023, and was watched by more than a million people.
In the film, the storyline takes place after the divorce of Aris (Reza Rahadian) and Kinan (Raihaanun) due to the presence of Lydia (Anya Geraldine) as the third party.
After the divorce, Kinan started a new life as a single mother and returned to being an active doctor. She strives to build a harmonious life with her daughter, Raya (Graciella Abigail). However, the situation became complicated when Aris came to visit them with Lydia.
Lydia, who was previously just Aris’s secret lover, is now insisting on getting married. On the other hand, Aris turns out to still have feelings for his ex-wife. Aris even tried to approach Kinan again, trying to rekindle the fire of their past.
This meeting reached Lydia’s ears and triggered a confrontation with Kinan. In the midst of her emotional turmoil, Lydia felt betrayed. She did not realize Kinan’s sincere desire to free herself from the grip of her ex-husband and his mistress.
Ipar Adalah Maut
The film “Ipar Adalah Maut” is inspired by a true story initially narrated by Eliza Sifa about an affair between a biological sibling and a brother-in-law. Eliza used the pseudonyms Nisa, Aris, and Rani because the original storyteller did not want their family’s name to be spread.
MD Pictures and director Hanung Bramantyo successfully packaged the story beautifully through the film “Ipar Adalah Maut,” which was watched by 4,743,510 people in theaters, placing it in the list of the top 10 highest-grossing Indonesian films of all time.
In the film, the story revolves around the household life of Nisa (Michelle Ziudith) and Aris (Deva Mahenra) which was initially harmonious, but suddenly deteriorated after Nisa’s younger sister, Rani (Davina Karamoy), moved in with them.
While living under the same roof with her older sister and brother-in-law, Rani is often shown dressing provocatively. Rani’s alluring body then caught Aris’s attention, who secretly began to approach her. Both of them fell into the pit of forbidden romance.
The illicit relationship was suspected after Aris’s behavior began to change. The climax came when Nisa checked her husband’s phone and found evidence of an affair between Aris and Rani. Nisa never expected their marriage could fall apart because of her own younger sibling.
Perewangan
MD Pictures has released another horror film adapted from a viral thread on X by @JeroPoint titled Perewangan. This film has been released in theaters on October 24, 2024.
The original story of Perewangan, according to Jero, is based on a message he received from someone claiming to be named Maya. The story was then rewritten on social media last year and read by millions of people.
MD Pictures once again entrusted Awi Suryadi to direct Perewangan. This film highlights the ancient tradition of allying with spirits or malevolent entities in pursuit of success and wealth. However, the price that the perpetrators must pay is extremely high.
In the film Perewangan, the main character named Maya (Davina Karamoy) must bear the consequences of being terrorized by the ancestral spirit of her family. Not only Maya, but all her family members, from her younger siblings to her uncles, are not free from the terror of the ancestral spirit demanding a life sacrifice.
At first, after her father’s mysterious death, Maya harbored great suspicion towards her aunt and uncle, who seemed to be eyeing her mother’s inheritance, Sudarsih (Ully Triani), who had been ill for years and was reluctant to speak.
Since her father’s death, Maya’s uncles and aunt have increasingly shown their ambition to take control of the land and house inherited by Sudarsih. Maya has chosen to keep her distance from them.
Over time, the nightmares and terror experienced by Maya became increasingly severe. Her mother, who had been lying on the bed for years, began to show strange signs. Maya finally realized that what threatened her family was something more evil and cruel than human greed.
Maya was even more shocked when she discovered that the evil creature terrorizing her family was none other than the result of her mother’s mistake.
In pursuit of momentary glory, Sudarsih continued the ritual of allying with the spirit, and her family had to bear the burden of seven generations as a sacrifice to satisfy the desires of the supernatural being. Now the creature has started targeting her child, Maya.
Sorop
Besides Perewangan, MD Pictures will also be releasing a horror film based on the SimpleMan thread titled Sorop later this year. Specifically, this film will be released in theaters starting December 19, 2024, and directed by Upi Avianto.
Actually, the thread about Sorop has not been completed by SimpleMan. However, MD Pictures still decided to bring this story to the big screen. If you read the thread, this film will tell the story of two siblings, Hanif and Isti, who live in a haunted house.
Every night, the spirit of their deceased uncle haunts them. Various terrifying incidents make Hanif and Isti work together to find out what is causing the ghost to terrorize them.
This film will star Yasamin Jasem as Isti and Egi Fedly Hana Malasan as Hanif. In addition, there are also Brilliana Arfira, Ratu Felisha, Ibnu Widodo, Tegar Satrya, Seroja Hafiedz, Cleo Haura, and Maryam.
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