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Review | Netflix drama review: Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams – engrossing Indonesian series
- Seven-episode Netflix anthology series set in Jakarta is far more than the set of creepy genre stories it initially appears to be
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4/5 stars
Accomplished director, writer and actor Joko Anwar has in recent years become one of the most important and influential filmmakers in Indonesian genre cinema, bolstered by the critical and commercial success of films like Satan’s Slaves, Gundala and Impetigore.
Joko has drawn favourable comparisons to Guillermo del Toro and Jordan Peele, not only for creating a string of accomplished works of his own authorship across a number of genres, but also nurturing a thriving domestic industry through his collaborations with other filmmakers, like Mouly Surya and the Mo Brothers.
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Joko’s latest project might be the most prominent example yet of his dedication to pushing Indonesian cinema to the fore while giving a leg-up to the next generation of emerging storytellers.
Ironically, he has accomplished this with a seven-episode television series for Netflix.
Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams is a wildly ambitious odyssey spanning 40 years of Indonesian history.
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