In the Absence of the Sun 2014

Gia is a filmmaker who returns to Jakarta after spending the past few years in New York. Though she has returned, she no longer feels that Jakarta is her home. As she is unpacking she finds photos of Naomi, Marissa Anita, her old soulmate in New York who also returned to Jakarta, and decides to call her. They agree to meet for dinner and after bumping into Naomi’s rich friends, Naomi is engaged. They leave the restaurant and catch up as they take a walk and eat street food. On their way home, Gia sees a love hotel and convinces Naomi to go. They talk about what could have been and Gia tells Naomi they could restart with each other. After Naomi almost kisses Gia, they end up hugging and consoling each other. Their quiet, intimate moment against the backdrop of a busy city captures the ache of past choices and the possibility of a new beginning, even as the night keeps its secret corners.

Ci Surya, Dayu Wijanto, is a widow to a successful businessman. While looking through her late husband’s closet, she finds a note in his wallet from a love hotel with the name “Sofia” and a phone number on it. She calls the number and confirms that her husband had been cheating on her. She goes to the hotel and books a room for the night. Finding out that Sofia is a performer at the hotel, Ci goes to the hotel bar and discovers that Sofia is married and that she and her husband are escorts. Ci brings Sofia’s husband back to her room and pays him to have sex. She leaves a note on the bedside table with her number and her name. The sequence unfolds with a cool, calculated clarity as Ci navigates heartbreak, desire, and revenge, and it slowly reveals how power, payment, and affection intersect in a city that never stops moving.

Indri, Ina Panggabean, works at a gym and has a date with a rich man she met online, Davit. As she’s finishing her shift, she cleans the locker room and steals a pair of high heels. At the restaurant she thinks she’s been stood up, but upon meeting Davit she realizes she was catfished. Davit takes rude business calls at the table and tells Indri that he already booked them a room at the love hotel. Davit angrily insults her after she second guesses the date, she goes to the restroom, crying and comes back to find that Davit has left and made her responsible for the check. Unable to pay, she runs out of the restaurant. She meets a street food vendor who cheers her up, and she tells him that it’s her birthday. They decide to go to the love hotel together and take Davit’s reservation. They have sex and afterwards they talk and laugh, sharing a moment of connection that feels raw and unfiltered in the neon glow of the city.

This interwoven trio of stories unfolds in the flickering lights and crowded streets of Jakarta, painting a portrait of women who navigate longing, disappointment, and resilience in the aftermath of intimate encounters. The film uses intimate, character-driven scenes to explore how desire can both complicate and illuminate lives, offering a nuanced look at relationships, class, and personal boundaries. Throughout, small, quiet details—the photos that spark a reconnection, the note in a wallet, the hotel room that becomes a confessional space—fuel a contemplative mood that lingers after the screen goes dark.