Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash

From acclaimed Indonesian director Edwin (Postcards from the Zoo) and based on the novel by Eka Kurniawan comes Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash, winner of the Golden Leopard at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival – a pulpy, energetic throwback to 80s South East Asian action and coming-of-age cinema about a young man who can’t get it up. Ajo Kawir (Marthino Lio) is a fighter who fears nothing, not even death. But his raging urge to fight is driven by a secret – his impotence, resulting from a traumatic childhood memory. When he crosses paths with a tough female fighter named Iteung (Ladya Cheryl), Ajo gets beaten black and blue, but he also falls head over heels in love. Will Ajo’s path lead him to a happy life with Iteung, and, eventually, his own peace of mind? With echoes of early Takashi Miike, Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash is a wild and unexpectedly poignant meditation on toxic masculinity and a culture steeped in violence from one of Indonesia’s most exciting directorial voices.