Film "Monster Pabrik Rambut" Hoped to Offer New Option in Horror Genre
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The film “Monster Pabrik Rambut” (Sleep No More), which had its premiere at the Berlinale Special Midnight section of the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival running in Germany from 12 to 22 February, is hoped to become a new option in the horror genre for filmgoers.
“I hope they’re scared, I hope they’re entertained. And hopefully this can present a new option in the horror genre, which is very big in Indonesia,” said actor Iqbaal Ramadhan, one of the film’s lead actors, in an interview uploaded to the 2026 Berlinale organiser’s Instagram account.
In the English-language interview, Iqbaal also expressed his hope that “Monster Pabrik Rambut” would become a fantasy horror film that people could enjoy and discuss even after the film ended.
Director Edwin remarked that the film serves as a reminder that human life on earth is not long, and therefore it is important to pay attention to what one does during that time.
“We live in a life that’s not too long, so let’s do what we love and still be human,” he said.
Entertainment publication The Hollywood Reporter, in its coverage on 15 February 2026, noted that director Edwin infused dark comedy and sharp critique of humanity’s worship of capitalism into “Monster Pabrik Rambut”, also known as “Sleep No More”.
As quoted in The Hollywood Reporter’s coverage, Edwin conveyed that he wanted to create a sense of horror in an unconventional way.
“I’ve never worked with this genre before,” said Edwin, who was inspired by Jordan Peele in delivering powerful messages through horror films.
“So we thought, let’s have fun with it — but not by making a ghost-based horror film like most Indonesian horror films. We wanted to create a sense of horror, but not in the usual way,” he explained.
The result is a surreal and darkly comedic tale set in a dilapidated wig factory where workers are forced to work overtime by an exploitative female supervisor.
“Labour exploitation and inhumane working conditions are a reality of life in my country,” said Edwin, recipient of the Edward Yang New Talent Award at the Asian Film Awards.
“The situation is not getting better. It has become normalised to an extremely absurd and horrifying degree,” he added.
In an interview with Variety, Edwin said that reality can be depicted through any genre in cinema.
“There are too many crazy things in Indonesia in our daily lives that are already serious, so perhaps horror-comedy is the perfect genre to use as a tool to discuss our everyday issues,” he said, as quoted in Variety’s coverage on 13 February 2026.
“Monster Pabrik Rambut” is a co-production between Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Germany and France.
The film, starring Rachel Amanda, Lutesha and Iqbaal Ramadhan, had its screenplay co-written by Edwin, Daishi Matsunaga and renowned novelist Eka Kurniawan.
Edwin conducted extensive research into factory conditions to design what he described as a toxic ecosystem in his film, which explores how workers become disconnected from the ultimate purpose of their work.
“I’m very interested in how the factory system works now — we don’t know what we’re working for,” said Edwin.
“Everyone works hard, and many accidents even happen because of these targets, but for what? For something we don’t know,” he said.