The Siege at Thorn High

In Indonesia in 2027, as a social crisis grows, the teacher Edwin enters a school for troubled children to look for his missing nephew. Violence is already established there. When a riot breaks out in the city the building is besieged and everyone inside becomes a target of ethnic discrimination. Joko Anwar wrote and directed. Morgan Oey plays Edwin, with Hana Pitrashata Malasan and Omara Esteghlal in the cast. The first version of the screenplay was written in 2007 and the director could not get it made for years. Its background is an open reference to the events of 1998 in Indonesia and the violence against the Chinese minority; the story is moved into the future and the event is recognisable. It is constructed as a single-location siege film, with corridors, classrooms and the roof becoming the battlefield. It opened on 17 April 2025, drew 1.8 million admissions and won five awards at the Indonesian Film Festival. Who it is for: viewers who like hard Indonesian genre cinema and thrillers with political ground. Who it is not for: anyone troubled by the level of violence; the film never pulls back.