Better Off Dead

Better Off Dead (2025) is an Indonesian dark comedy that starts from a genuinely uncomfortable idea. Gema is an awkward office worker nobody pays attention to. When his estranged father dies, his colleagues begin showing him warmth. They bring him food, touch his shoulder, ask how he is. For the first time in his life Gema feels seen. Then the attention starts to fade, and to bring it back he invents another death. Then another. What the film does is refuse to use this for shock value. The subject is not grief but what grief provides: a legitimate reason to approach someone in an office. Gema's lie is cruel and his need is real. It sits in the cringe comedy tradition; there are scenes designed to make you wince, and it breaks the fourth wall. It is Kristo Immanuel's first film. He was known in Indonesia as a comedian. It won five prizes at the Jogja-NETPAC festival including Best Film and Best Directing. It was small at the box office, selling around a hundred and eighty five thousand tickets. It runs 120 minutes. Good for: dark comedy, Southeast Asian cinema, and office satire. Less good for: it makes jokes out of death and grief, deals with mental health, and cringe comedy is not for everyone.