Prison Marathon

About the event

Prison is not only a heavily guarded building housing those who have broken the law. It can also be a state of mind, a cage of our own making, in which we imprison ourselves with memories and fears. At the 20th Five Flavours, our marathon invites you to explore both incarnations of the prison, as imagined by two masters of contemporary genre cinema: Joko Anwar and SABU. The action of Ghost in the Cell, the Indonesian director’s latest film, unfolds in a grim penitentiary where an invisible force begins to dispatch the inmates one by one, with considerable flair. Not a pure horror by any means, it packs in plenty of comedy, martial arts, and even... dancing.

SABU, meanwhile, returns to the territory that made his name early in his career with the story of a police officer who loses his memory following an operation that went disastrously wrong. Hysterical laughter intertwines with genuine grief, as SABU proves he remains a director capable of delivering truly dazzling sequences.

This double bill delivers a hefty dose of cinematic mayhem that, quite fittingly, refuses to be confined to any one genre. So, on Saturday evening, join us for the Prison Marathon. You’ll be incarcerated in comfort, ensconced in the plush seats of Muranów cinema; during the interval, we’ll keep you fed with a steady supply of suchary (Polish-style dry jokes). And after two hard-hitting films, we’ll set you free to return home.

Prison Marathon

Saturday, 14 November, 19:30
Kino Muranów in Warsaw

Ticket price: PLN 70

The ticket includes an evening of two films and refreshments.

Programme

Ghost in the Cell

Hantu Dalam Sel
dir. Joko Anwar
Indonesia 2026, 106’

A new inmate – journalist Dimas – arrives at a grim maximum-security prison modelled on the Sukamiskin penitentiary. Along with him, a hostile entity enters the complex, methodically disposing of inmates in a manner as brutal as it is spectacular. What pattern dictates its choice of victims? And can the faith of the inmates hold it back before everyone inside is slaughtered? Joko Anwar reaffirms his status as a master of horror, this time taking a lighter approach, infusing the plot with gory humour while weaving in dazzling martial arts and dance sequences. Beneath the laughs and genre play lies a serious social commentary and a critique of a corrupt country, resembling one huge prison, ruled by people who cannot be trusted. Filmed virtually without second takes, the director's twelfth feature brings a breath of fresh air to a highly conventionalised genre, bursting with energy and delivering surprises at every turn of the prison corridor.

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Arrested Memory

Kuáng wàng jǐng tàn
dir. SABU
Japan 2026, 87’

What does Detective Lee do when he gets injured during a crucial operation and gradually begins to lose his memory? Naturally, he returns to work, tasked with finding the kidnapped son of a businessman. Except from now on, every lead may turn out to be a dead end, and the closer he gets to the truth, the less certain he is of his own identity. His past quickly becomes his most difficult mystery to unlock.

In Arrested Memory, SABU takes on the police procedural, creating a subversive, absurd story about a man who must piece himself back together from clues – before he forgets what he is actually looking for. Tinged with melancholy, this unconventional crime film seamlessly shifts from signature auteur comedy to uncompromising action cinema. Subverting genre tropes at every turn, SABU hides a poignant exploration of solitude beneath clever gags, where the whims of fate trigger the most unexpected twists. Screened at the Venice and Toronto film festivals and nominated for 11 Golden Horse Awards, Arrested Memory reaffirms why SABU has been celebrated for decades as one of East Asian genre cinema's most compelling directors.

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