By George & Josh Bate
Indonesian filmmaker Joko Anwar has spent much of his career revitalizing the country’s modern cinema, carving out a particularly distinctive niche with acclaimed horror and genre fare. His 2017 breakout Satan’s Slaves became the highest-grossing Indonesian film of that year and one of the country’s biggest horror successes, while Anwar himself has taken home multiple Citra Awards, Indonesia’s equivalent of Academy Awards. Needless to say, anything bearing Anwar’s name warrants attention from genre fans. With Ghost in the Cell, however, the filmmaker may have delivered his most purely entertaining film yet, a bloody, bizarre, and surprisingly heartfelt horror-comedy that recently won Best Picture in the Horror Features competition at Fantastic Fest 2026.
Ghost in the Cell follows Dimas (Endy Arfian), an investigative journalist who is falsely accused of gruesomely murdering his editor and subsequently thrown into a high-security prison. There, feuding gangs, violent inmates, and corrupt guards have created a pressure cooker of simmering hostility. But when an invisible supernatural entity begins brutally murdering prisoners and arranging their mutilated corpses into grotesque works of art, the prison’s rival factions are forced to put their differences aside and work together against a vicious ghost with murderous intent.
Horror comedies are notoriously difficult to get right. Too much comedy and the horror loses its teeth, while too much horror and the jokes feel like awkward, ill-fitting interruptions. Even recent major studio efforts have demonstrated how easily that balancing act can go awry, with Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil illustrating how over-prioritizing laughs can undercut tension. Ghost in the Cell, thankfully, understands that comedy and horror don’t have to compete for the audience’s attention. Anwar knows exactly when to make viewers laugh and when to make them squirm, often within the same scene.
The premise itself is wonderfully clever. Anwar turns a prison into a supernatural mystery box, initially leaving audiences to wonder exactly what kind of invisible force is killing these people and why. The aftermath is often even more disturbing than the unseen entity itself, with mutilated bodies transformed into grotesque art installations. There are clear echoes of Hellraiser, Hannibal, and House of 1000 Corpses in the film’s macabre imagery, with some kills venturing into Terrifier-levels of grotesquerie. Yet Anwar never simply repeats familiar imagery. He keeps finding inventive ways to stage violence, turning each murder into its own twisted visual set piece. Much of the film’s effectiveness comes from its apparent reliance on practical effects, with the gore given a tangible, tactile quality that makes every mutilated corpse all the more stomach-churning.
And yet, despite all of its bloody and guts, Ghost in the Cell is also laugh-out-loud, gut-bustingly funny. The comedy works as Anwar finds such a clever entry point in his narrative to introduce jokes. Once the inmates discover that the entity targets people radiating a negative, red aura, the prison’s hardened criminals suddenly have to become better people. Inmates pray, seek inner peace, practice positive thinking, and even break into goofy dance numbers. It is all completely absurd, but Anwar commits to the ridiculousness so completely that it becomes hysterical. More importantly, the horror never disappears. The bleak production design, oppressive prison setting, and grotesque kills constantly remind the audience that these characters are still being hunted. Only rarely does the humor falter or feel repetitive, an impressive feat considering just how much of the film depends on its unusual tonal balancing act.
There is also something strangely heartwarming about Anwar’s film. Watching violent inmates perform increasingly silly acts in an attempt to find inner peace is inherently endearing, but what becomes even more affecting is the way this common threat brings rival gangs and prisoners together. Ghost in the Cell unexpectedly transforms into a strange team-up movie, one where the audience grows invested not only in Dimas but in the collection of criminals, troublemakers, and outsiders surrounding him. The film ultimately champions community and solidarity as means of rebelling against a system designed to keep people divided, making its bizarre collection of characters surprisingly easy to root for.
Underneath all the gore and gags, Anwar packs some pointed commentary about classism and corruption in Indonesia. Through a satirical lens, the film takes aim at a justice system in which petty criminals and whistleblowers can find themselves punished while powerful politicians and wealthy white-collar criminals enjoy vastly different treatment. Dimas’ own situation further connects the supernatural story to questions surrounding journalism, corruption, and the consequences of exposing powerful interests. The film also weaves ecological devastation into the mythology surrounding its titular ghost. None of this messaging feels particularly heavy-handed or preachy. It is also not especially revelatory or groundbreaking, although it gives Ghost in the Cell something meaningful underneath its crowd-pleasing gore and gags.
VERDICT: 8/10
Ghost in the Cell is exactly the kind of genre feast that horror fans should rush to seek out. Indonesian filmmaker Joko Anwar takes a clever supernatural mystery, fills it with grotesque practical gore, and then somehow makes the whole thing laugh-out-loud hilarious without sacrificing the horror. Its mutilated corpses recall the macabre artistry of Hellraiser, Hannibal, and House of 1000 Corpses, while its absurd dance numbers and unlikely team-up give the film an unexpectedly heartwarming center. The commentary on classism, corruption, and community may not reinvent the wheel, but it gives the bloodshed and gags a reason to exist beyond simple spectacle. Most importantly, Anwar nails the difficult balance between horror and comedy, ensuring that the laughs enhance rather than undercut the tension. Bloody, bizarre, inventive, and genuinely funny, Ghost in the Cell is a crowd-pleasing horror-comedy more than deserving of Fantastic Fest 2026’s top prize.
Ghost in the Cell is in theaters October 2, 2026.