CROCODILE TEARS

AIR MATA BUAYA

By Tumpal TAMPUBOLON

TANAKHIR FILMS - as PROD

Thriller - Development 2020

A suspenseful drama between an overbearing widow and her son set in a crocodile farm in a small town of Java, Indonesia.

    • Year of production
    • 2020
    • Genres
    • Thriller, Drama
    • Countries
    • INDONESIA, FRANCE
    • Languages
    • INDONESIAN
    • Duration
    • 90 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Tumpal TAMPUBOLON
    • Writer(s)
    • Tumpal TAMPUBOLON
    • Producer(s)
    • Mandy MARAHIMIN (Tanakhir Films)
    • Synopsis
    • Johan (20) and his mother, Mama (45), lives in a crocodile farm. Johan’s father left them for another woman, when Johan was still small, so Mama took an albino crocodile in their farm as Johan’s surrogate father.
      Traumatised by what happened with her husband, she prohibits Johan to go outside. She even said that human beings are much worse than crocodiles. As a result, people in the town talk about them. They see them as a strange couple and don’t want to have anything to do with them. They even ridiculed Johan out of high school. This makes Mama and Johan closer, and Mama is very controlling towards Johan.
      Johan sometimes want to get away from his mother’s shadow, but he doesn’t know where to go. He has no friends and no knowledge of what lies over the crocodile farm and its surrounding.
      One day, Johan meets a young woman, Arumi (23). They meet when Johan is shopping at the market with his bicyle. Arumi is new on town, so she doesn’t know about how the town people see Johan and Mama. They instantly connect and become good friends. Johan sees Arumi often, although quietly because he doesn’t want Mama to know. Johan is afraid Mama will prohibit him from seeing Arumi if Mama knows.
      Arumi is a housemaid who works for a rich family. This rich family has a son, Dimas (19). Dimas and his two friends are still in high school. All they do each day is play games and watch porn. One day, Dimas come home from school and Arumi is not around. He goes into her room and sees her sleeping with her skirt revealing her thighs. Dimas takes a picture and the sound wakes Arumi. Since then the relationship between them changes. Dimas is suddenly aware of Arumi’s sexuality. When one of Dimas’ friends tries to harrass Arumi, Dimas stand and watch. Arumi reported this to her employer. But Dimas talks to his parents that Arumi is stealing from them. The employer didn’t believe her, they believe their son instead, and Arumi got fired.
      Arumi then finds work at a karaoke bar. One night, Dimas and his friends came to the karaoke bar and they sing until midnight. After Arumi is finished with her work, she walks home alone. On the way, she was ambushed and raped by Dimas and his friends.
      Arumi tells Johan what happened. When Johan hears about this, he becomes enraged. He visits Dimas’ house and throws a rock through the window. The glass shards manage to hurt Dimas’ face. Dimas wanted to get revenge and followed Johan into the crocodile farm. There, Johan and Arumi kill Dimas.
      Mama helps Johan and Arumi to take care of the body. They plan to feed it to the albino crocodile. But when they open the gate to the albino crocodile pond, Mama pushes Arumi into the pond. Seeing this, Johan jumps into the pond, wanting to save Arumi. Mama panics and goes into the pond as well, to save her only son. We see blood coming out of the crocodile pond, and then Johan emerges with Arumi in his hands. He also tries to save Mama, but Mama’s body has been eaten by the crocodiles.
    • Partners & financing
    • Acrobates Films
    • Production schedule
    • Development: December 2017 - May 2020
      Pre-production: June 2020 - October 2020
      Production: October 2020
      Post Production: November 2020 - February 2021
      Finished Film: February 2021
    • Beginning of shooting
    • Oct 20, 2020
    • End of shooting
    • Nov 02, 2020