Revenge
2022 · 6m · Indonesia
Directed by Leo Avero
Genres: action, animation, sci-fi
In the neon-soaked future city of Neo-Batavia, a woman who survived a corrupt cop's hit awakens with super strength and teleportation, and hunts her would-be killer through the cyberpunk underworld.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A solo auteur cyberpunk revenge tale should feel like the most predictable move in the book, but Avero's Wong Kar-wai restraint—all mood and shadow over spectacle—quietly subverts the genre's usual bombast; it's a contrarian's wet dream disguised as neon eye candy.
Avero situates himself deliberately in the lineage of Wong Kar-wai's visual poetics and anime's gestural restraint, and the formal discipline here—each cut a deliberate pause—speaks to someone thinking through cinema's grammar rather than just rendering cool shapes.
The decision to let silence and negative space carry the action rather than underscore it with pounding synths is what transforms this from a technical demo into something genuinely felt; a one-person operation that understood the single choice that would make everything else matter.
Reviews
The meticulous details, captivating animation, and scenarios created by Leo Avero reflect his dedication and commitment to artistic excellence.
A young woman whose life is scarred by past trauma… transforms her despair into fierce determination and embarks on a journey seeking retribution.