Joko Anwar’s Ghost in the Cell Lands German Distribution Ahead of Berlinale Premiere

Joko Anwar’s prison-set horror-comedy Ghost in the Cell secures a German release ahead of its Berlin debut. ©Come and See Pictures / Variety

Per Variety, Joko Anwar’s Berlin-bound horror-comedy Ghost in the Cell has landed a key European distribution deal just ahead of its world premiere, signaling strong international confidence in one of 2026’s most intriguing genre titles.

Plaion Pictures has secured theatrical and home entertainment rights across Germany, Austria, and other German-speaking territories, positioning the Indonesian production for a significant European rollout following its debut in the Forum section of the Berlin Film Festival. Worldwide sales are being handled by Barunson E&A, continuing the company’s long-standing relationship with both Plaion and high-profile international genre cinema.

Set inside a brutal Indonesian prison, Ghost in the Cell follows the arrival of a quiet new inmate accompanied by a supernatural entity that targets those with the darkest auras. As deaths begin to mount, survival becomes tied not to strength or violence, but to collective moral reckoning. Prisoners are forced to confront their own past actions, discovering that unity may be the only way to stop being picked off one by one. The film blends horror, comedy, and pointed social commentary—territory Anwar has made distinctly his own.

The project is produced by Come and See Pictures, Rapi Films, Barunson E&A, and Legacy Pictures, with Joko Anwar serving as writer-director and executive producer alongside Tia Hasibuan and an international producing team. The ensemble cast includes Abimana Aryasatya, Endy Arfian, Bront Palarae, Morgan Oey, Lukman Sardi, and Danang Suryonegoro.

For Plaion Pictures, the acquisition continues a genre-forward collaboration with Barunson E&A that previously brought Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite to German audiences—where it surpassed one million admissions—and followed Kim Jee-woon’s Cobweb out of Cannes. Plaion’s recent slate also includes Anatomy of a Fall, Titane, and The Whale, reinforcing its reputation as one of Europe’s most influential independent distributors.

Moritz Peters, Plaion’s director of acquisitions, praised the film’s tonal ambition, describing it as a mix of the gore of Terrifier, the kinetic action of The Raid, and the humor of Stephen Chow—“and against all odds, it works brilliantly.”

Beyond its genre mechanics, Anwar has framed Ghost in the Cell as a political allegory. The filmmaker has cited Indonesia’s ongoing deforestation crisis and systemic injustice as core thematic drivers, using the prison setting as a metaphor for societal confinement that punishes the vulnerable while protecting the corrupt.

Ghost in the Cell is scheduled for theatrical release in Indonesia in the second quarter of 2026, with Plaion Pictures overseeing its German-language European rollout. With Berlin as its launchpad and a distributor known for elevating challenging cinema, Anwar’s latest looks poised to resonate far beyond its prison walls.