Leading the way from its heyday as a celebrated short story by Dewi Lestari, to a heralded film franchise and webseries, director Angga D. Sasongko has returned with a third outing in the Filosofi Kopi saga.
Titled Ben & Jody from Visinema Pictures, actors Chicco Jericho and Rio Dewanto reprise their respective titles roles, continuing the saga that began as an award-winning tale of two struggling coffeeshop owners. Things have definitely changed since the 2015 story, with a script written by Sasongko and co-scribe M. Nurman Wardi, which now sees the two formerly-partnered baristas facing dangerous odds when Ben’s (Jericho) venture into farming activism sees him tackling gangs of illegal loggers, led by Tubir, played by none other than contemporary action legend Yayan Ruhian.
The official teaser above has been out since the summer and it finally landed in my view after all these months. Honestly, who would’ve thought that such an obscure piece of dramatic cinema would evolve into a film franchise with fan-favored fisticuffs out of Southeast Asia? I sure didn’t, and with an Indonesian release set for January 27, I’m curious to see if a new trailer will show up. Otherwise, hopefully this will stream stateside for us curious Westerners.
