Ghost in the Cell Review | Joko Anwar | 2026 | 1 hr 46 min
- Director Joko Anwar
- Starring Endy Arfian, Abimana Aryasatya, Bront Palarae
- Runtime 1 hr 46 min
- Subgenre Horror-comedy, prison horror
- Reviewed by Hope Madden
A young journalist lands in a grim Indonesian prison, and soon the worst inmates start dying in horribly gory ways. Did the meek new arrival do it, or did he bring something in with him?
Ghost in the Cell is the latest horror-comedy from Indonesian director Joko Anwar, and it drops a meek young journalist into a prison full of crooks, bullies and brutal guards. Anwar makes a lot of films, and this time he pairs his taste for gore with jokes, warmth and a surprising amount of dancing. Bodies start to pile up, and nobody is sure who, or what, is to blame. Is it scary? Is it funny? Can a film this messy have a heart? In this Ghost in the Cell review, Hope Madden weighs the carnage against the camaraderie of an Indonesian horror-comedy that takes its time to show its teeth.
Ghost in the Cell plays as a prison film first and a horror film late, but when the gore lands it is ghastly. What lingers is the warmth: a cast who each stand out in a sea of orange jumpsuits, a streak of real optimism, and dancing played so earnestly it makes the carnage oddly cheering.
Hope Madden
Joko Anwar Sends a Do-Gooder to Prison
Joko Anwar makes a lot of movies. Not all of them are worth watching, but when he hits, you can expect grimy, bloody fun. Perhaps none more unexpectedly fun than his latest, Ghost in the Cell.
We open after midnight in a sweaty Indonesian newsroom, dedicated journalist Dimas (Endy Arfian) keying in the last sentences of his most perfect story. Capitalists are illegally mining a rainforest in Borneo where dozens of strange deaths occurred.
But the story never runs, and within a scene or two, Dimas is the new guy in an awfully unpleasant Indonesian prison.
Were it not for the gruesome opening (the reason that story didn’t run), you might not recognize Anwar’s latest as a horror film until after its midpoint. Instead, the filmmaker pits a rag tag group of not-so-badnicks (one telephone scammer, one small time robber, etc.) against more serious felons and a sadistic prison force. It’s somewhat traditional action with a bit of good-natured humor tossed around.
And then, meek little do-gooder Dimas arrives. Fresh meat. Or is he?
Though the most unhinged of the inmates, Tokek (Aming Sugandhi), has made his ill intentions clear, he meets a similarly grisly fate as that newspaper publisher. Is Dimas to blame? Or did he unwittingly bring something to the prison with him?
Body Horror With a Buoyant Heart
Ghost in the Cell showcases Anwar’s knack for truly ghastly body horror with a buoyant camaraderie, proletariat zeal, and well-placed bursts of comedy. His cast is up to the tonal challenge, each one carving out a memorable character, which can be tough to do in a sea of prison bars and orange jumpsuits.
There’s almost a sweetness and definitely a sense of optimism in the humor, characterizations, and storyline. The respect the inmates show the dance instructor, and Anwar’s earnest use of dancing in the film, can’t help but make you smile—even as massive chunks of inmate slide down the gore-slimed stone walls.
Pick-me-up seems like the wrong way to describe Ghost in the Cell, but for a movie boasting the sheer volume of carnage, the film has a good heart.
The Verdict: Is Ghost in the Cell Worth Watching?
The verdict
It takes its time to turn into a horror film, but ghastly body horror, a likeable cast and a good heart make Ghost in the Cell unexpectedly fun.
Watch it if: you like your gore served with jokes, camaraderie and a bit of dancing.
Skip it if: you want scares from the first reel, or the sight of inmate sliding down a stone wall puts you off your tea.
Hope “Madd at the Movies” Madden, a graduate of The Ohio State University, is a freelance writer and co-founder of maddwolf.com. In addition to 12 years at the award-winning independent weekly newspaper The Other Paper, Hope has written for Columbus Monthly Magazine, The Ohio State University Alumni Magazine, is a published poet and fiction writer. She also currently writes for Columbus Underground, Screen Fervor and the UK Film Review.
Hope’s a member of the Critics Choice Association, the Online Association of Female Film Critics, Columbus Film Critics Association and the Women’s Film Critic Circle. She’s also on the Nightmares Film Festival jury. She co-hosts the weekly movie review podcast The Screening Room and the bi-weekly horror film podcast, Fright Club.
In Columbus, Ohio, you can catch Hope on TV every Friday morning on ABC6/Fox28’s Good Day Columbus.
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