Mereka Bilang, Saya Monyet!

Set in modern-day Indonesia, the story follows Adjeng's life as she navigates writing, romance, and family pressure. A short story published in a national newspaper (Kompas) anchors the present-day milieu and highlights how media can shape a life. The narrative moves through familiar urban rhythms—work, nightlife, and intimate moments—while past memories intrude.

The events unfold in a contemporary urban Indonesian landscape, with scenes shifting between Adjeng's apartment, clubs, cafés, and a residential complex. The setting contrasts private spaces of desire with public spaces of judgment and exposure. The city atmosphere reinforces themes of ambition, surveillance, and personal trauma.

⚡ Power & Control

A younger artist is mentored by an older, dominant figure who becomes her lover, blurring lines between inspiration and coercion. The dynamic tests who holds authority over a creative life and how much control is acceptable. The relationship raises questions about exploitation, intimacy, and what it means to write one's own ending.

💔 Trauma & Memory

Past abuses haunt the present as Adjeng reprocesses childhood traumas through fiction and flashbacks. Memory and storytelling become coping tools that both illuminate and distort truth. The film explores how traumatic experiences influence identity, trust, and artistic expression. Reality and memory intertwine as characters confront what happened and what remains unresolved.

👩‍👧 Family & Motherhood

The mother-daughter bond drives much of the emotional arc, with a mother who is both protective and suffocating. The film probes how parental love and control shape autonomy, choices, and vulnerability. Women in Adjeng's circle—mothers, friends, lovers—each negotiate care, power, and independence within a tight-knit community.