Cigarette Girl (2023) Review: Desire in Clove Smoke

Is Cigarette Girl worth watching?

Yes. Cigarette Girl is an exquisite Indonesian period drama, a sweeping romance that is also a rich portrait of the kretek cigarette trade and the women shut out of it. Kamila Andini and Ifa Isfansyah direct with tactile patience, and Dian Sastrowardoyo gives a luminous lead performance that anchors all five episodes. The only real reservation is that the modern-day search framing the story is less compelling than the 1960s romance at its heart.

What is Cigarette Girl about?

As a wealthy kretek magnate lies dying, he asks his son Lebas (Arya Saloka) to find a woman from his past, known only as Jeng Yah. Lebas’s search, joined by the young doctor Arum (Putri Marino), unspools a love story from the 1960s. In a Javanese kretek town, Dasiyah (Dian Sastrowardoyo), a gifted and ambitious young woman, dreams of creating the secret sauce that gives clove cigarettes their flavour, a craft reserved for men. Her talent draws the admiration of Soeraja (Ario Bayu), a newcomer who becomes part of her family’s business.

Cigarette Girl, known in Indonesia as Gadis Kretek, is adapted from Ratih Kumala’s novel. It is an Indonesian series in Indonesian, directed by Kamila Andini and Ifa Isfansyah, and it premiered at the Busan International Film Festival before its release on Netflix in 2023. This review covers the complete show: one season of five episodes, which has ended.

The sensuality of craft

Andini’s direction treats the making of kretek as a language of its own. Hands roll, blend and taste tobacco and cloves in close-up; smoke drifts through warm light; the factory floor and drying racks feel as alive as the characters. These details do more than dress the set. They explain why Dasiyah’s ambition matters, and they let desire and skill blur together in a way that makes the romance feel physical without being explicit.

The production design and cinematography are some of the finest in any Southeast Asian series. The 1960s scenes glow with warm browns and golds, while the modern thread is cooler and more restrained, so the audience always knows which world it is in.

Dian Sastrowardoyo at the centre

Dian Sastrowardoyo plays Dasiyah as proud, clever and quietly defiant, a woman who knows her worth long before the men around her are willing to acknowledge it. Her chemistry with Ario Bayu is built on looks, pauses and shared work, and the restraint makes their scenes far more romantic than grand declarations would. Bayu gives Soeraja a mix of charm and uncertainty that keeps the relationship tense.

Putri Marino and Arya Saloka have the less showy job of carrying the modern investigation. They are appealing together, and their gradual discoveries give the series its mystery, but their scenes lack the emotional heat of the past.

Where the frame slows the picture

The dual-timeline structure is faithful to the novel, yet it sometimes breaks momentum. Just as the 1960s story builds, the series cuts back to the search, and some of those modern scenes exist mainly to deliver information. The pace overall is deliberate, which suits the material but will frustrate viewers who want frequent twists. The political turbulence of the era also enters the story, and while it is handled with care, viewers unfamiliar with Indonesian history may want some context.

Who should watch Cigarette Girl?

It is a natural fit for fans of period romance, literary adaptations and slow-burning love stories, and an ideal entry point for anyone curious about Indonesian television beyond horror. Five episodes make it an easy commitment. The content includes smoking throughout, romantic scenes and some historical violence, but it is not graphic. The history hub has more in the same vein.

Two companions worth trying:

• When Life Gives You Tangerines for another period drama about a woman whose ambitions outpace what her era allows.
• Grisse for a very different, more action-driven look at Indonesia’s past.

The verdict

Cigarette Girl is a gorgeous, emotionally rich period romance, elevated by Kamila Andini’s sensuous direction and Dian Sastrowardoyo’s commanding presence. The modern-day framing is weaker than the past it uncovers, but this remains one of the most accomplished Asian series of its year.

Rating: 4.5/5