RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - A film that has already carved out an impressive journey on the international festival circuit is finally coming home. Crocodile Tears, the feature debut of director Tumpal Tampubolon and produced by Mandy Marahimin, will open in Indonesian cinemas on May 7, 2026.

The film has traveled widely since its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (tiff) in 2024 and its Asian premiere in Busan the same year. To date, Crocodile Tears has screened at more than 30 international festivals, including BFI London, Adelaide, Torino, and the Red Sea International Film Festival.

Along the way, it has collected nominations and awards such as the Ingmar Bergman Competition nomination at Göteborg Film Festival 2025, Direction Award and Nongshim Award at Jakarta Film Week 2025, and Best Screenplay in the Panorama Section at the Asian Film Festival Barcelona 2025.

For Tampubolon, the film marks a milestone in a career that began when his short script The Last Believer won a development competition at JiFFest in 2005. Since then, he has written and directed numerous shorts, participated in programs like Berlinale Talent Campus and Asian Film Academy, and earned recognition with Laut Memanggilku, which won the Sonje Award at Busan in 2021 and Best Short Film at the Indonesian Film Festival the same year.

Crocodile Tears tells the story of Johan (Yusuf Mahardika) and his mother (Marissa Anita), who live in a dilapidated crocodile park. Johan’s sheltered upbringing under his mother’s watchful eye begins to unravel when he meets Arumi (Zulfa Maharani), a girl from outside their world. As Johan seeks independence, his mother’s protective love turns increasingly obsessive, creating a tense psychological drama.

The screenplay, written by Tampubolon himself, was inspired by a documentary he once saw of a female crocodile sheltering her young inside her jaws. “There was something both terrifying and tender in that act. Through this film, I wanted to explore the meaning of devotion and love within a family—how something born of love can become a burden, and why relationships meant to protect can sometimes feel suffocating,” he explained, as quoted on a recent press release, on Friday, March 13, 2026.

Blending magical realism with psychological terror, Crocodile Tears promises a visually striking and emotionally charged experience. Produced by Talamedia in collaboration with Acrobates Films, Giraffe Pictures, Poetik Films, and 2Pilots Filmproduction, with support from Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and E-Motion Entertainment, the film is set to bring its internationally acclaimed story to Indonesian audiences this May. ***