Susah Sinyal

Ernest Prakasa's 2017 Indonesian film is about the relationship between a lawyer buried in her work and her daughter. Ellen is divorced, keeps going through her cases and has largely left the raising of her daughter Kiara to her own mother. When the grandmother dies Kiara has nobody, and Ellen has to attend to her for the first time; the two go on holiday to the island of Sumba to make peace. That there is no phone signal there is a disaster for Ellen and, for her daughter, the first chance to have her mother's attention. The film does not construct the question of the working mother as an accusation and makes Ellen's inability to leave her work comprehensible too. The humour is plentiful and it follows the familiar shape of this kind of family comedy in Indonesia. The island itself is the film's second body. Who it's for: viewers who like family comedy and Indonesian cinema. Who it's not for: anyone wanting to avoid an emotional resolution; the film leans on one at the end.