In this alternative Western by Indonesian director-writer Mouly Surya, the newly widowed Marlina (Marsha Timothy) faces a gruelling home invasion by a gang leader. As the stakes rise, Marlina must outsmart her sadistic captor and fight the wider patriarchal forces that bind her, while – in the tradition of the Western – embarking on a transformational journey. By subverting a masculine genre like the Western, Surya’s film pushes storytelling boundaries, reworking a classic formula to create a new, alternative dialogue in Indonesian cinema – one that makes space for new stories told from a female point of view. Surya brings genre and gender to the fore, exploring the Western’s concern with landscape, violence and journey, while also addressing concerns related to women’s experiences in Indonesia and the wider cultural context. Lauded at the Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight and hailed as the first ‘Satay Western’ within the film community, Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts has the makings of a cult classic.
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