Amid Indonesia’s 1960s political upheaval, a woman in a loveless second marriage finds comfort and understanding from an unexpected quarter.

Nana is the pampered but lonely wife of a wealthy older man who is continually unfaithful. She works hard to run his household with an air of tranquil self-control, hiding her feelings as she smooths her hair. “Be like water,” she reminds herself – while, inside, she rages against her powerlessness and flounders in grieving memories of her family and first husband, whom she lost in the West Java anti-communist purges. But when she meets Ino, one of her current spouse’s mistresses, a surprising intimacy blooms between the erstwhile rivals, opening the door to freedom for both women.

Director Kamila Andini (The Seen and Unseen, MIFF 2018; The Mirror Never Lies, MIFF 2012) – whose film Yuni also screens at this year’s MIFF – flushes this elliptical, impressionistic period drama with hidden waves of feeling. Happy Salma fills her gorgeous lead performance with expressive subtlety and deeply felt longing, while Laura Basuki won the Berlinale’s Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance for her role as Ino. The film’s feminist critique is similarly subdued yet potent: the undercurrents of oppression that pressure and silence Indonesian women now are the same as they were before, back then.

“What In the Mood for Love might have been like had Apichatpong Weerasethakul directed it … An intoxicating sensory experience.” – Variety