Ghost in the Cell Review: Joko Anwar's Bloody, Brilliant Prison Nightmare

Is Ghost in the Cell good?

Yes — it’s one of the best-reviewed Indonesian genre films of the year, landing in the mid-70s on the Celluloid Score. Joko Anwar, the director behind some of Indonesian horror’s biggest international breakouts, is working at full confidence here, juggling gore, slapstick, and social commentary about institutional corruption without ever losing his grip on tone. Critics who caught it at its Berlinale premiere and in its Indonesian theatrical run agree it’s a maximalist blast, even if a few subplots among its large ensemble get shortchanged.

What is Ghost in the Cell about?

An invisible force starts butchering inmates inside a notorious, overcrowded prison, and the killings are brutal enough to force rival gangs and corrupt guards into a shaky truce. As the body count climbs, it becomes clear that whatever is hunting them is less interested in random carnage than in settling scores tied to the prison’s culture of abuse and neglect. Anwar uses the confined setting to escalate tension scene by scene, letting the horror double as pointed satire of a broken system.

Should you watch Ghost in the Cell?

Absolutely, if you have any appetite for horror-comedy that doesn’t pull its punches — this is grisly, funny, and unusually pointed for a studio genre picture. The film’s willingness to swing between slapstick and genuine brutality within the same scene is exactly what critics have praised, and it’s the kind of confident, specific filmmaking that’s earned Anwar comparisons to genre auteurs abroad. Just know going in that the violence is graphic and frequent — this isn’t a film for horror-adjacent viewers looking for something gentle.

How does it compare to Joko Anwar’s other horror films?

It sits comfortably alongside his strongest work, trading the slow-burn dread of his supernatural films for something louder and more overtly comedic. Where earlier Anwar films built atmosphere through patience, Ghost in the Cell is closer to a pressure cooker, packing a teeming ensemble cast and a barrage of practical gore into a tight prison setting. It won’t replace his most acclaimed features in critical rankings, but it’s arguably his most purely entertaining film to date, and a strong sign that Indonesian genre cinema continues to travel well on the international festival circuit.