Budi Pekerti (Andragogy) - The Cost of Going Viral

Directed by visionary Indonesian filmmaker Wregas Bhanuteja, "Budi Pekerti" (Andragogy) provides one of the sharpest, most anxiety-inducing portrayals of internet outrage ever put to screen. It tells the story of Bu Prani (Sha Ine Febriyanti), a respected and unconventional middle school counseling teacher. Her life spirals completely out of control after a 20-second video of her arguing with a line-cutter at a market goes viral for all the wrong reasons.

The film brilliantly captures how a mob mentality dissects every aspect of a person's life online. Prani's family is subjected to bizarre conspiracy theories, their small business is ruined, and she faces losing her job. Bhanuteja directs the film almost like a psychological thriller, using tight framing and highly specific color palettes (predominantly oppressive yellows and blues) to highlight the family's suffocation.

"Andragogy" is a phenomenal, urgent piece of cinema that holds up an uncomfortable mirror to how modern society rushes to judgment.