Wait Until I Make It

Naya Anindita's Indonesian film follows Arga, unemployed for three years. Every Eid the family gathering turns into a scene of account-giving for him, with relatives asking about work, about marriage, making comparisons. What weighs on Arga is not only pride: his younger sibling's university fees have to be paid, money is tight and the family has begun talking about selling their grandmother's house. The film turns that pressure into comedy without mockery; it takes his helplessness seriously and does not present the family's questions as malicious either. It belongs to the tradition of family films Indonesian popular cinema releases around Eid, but it treats the inability to find work as the experience of a particular generation. Who it's for: viewers curious about family comedy and Indonesian cinema. Who it's not for: anyone for whom unemployment and family pressure feel too close at the moment.