For months, Indonesian movie audiences have been talking about one film: Norma, the story of a seemingly blissful marriage shattered by the husband's clandestine affair with his mother-in-law.
It's the kind of plot that was always going to attract melodrama fans. But what has made Norma a nationwide obsession is the fact that it's based on a viral true story.
In 2022, Norma Risma, a woman in Serang City on Indonesia's Java island, exposed her husband and mother's affair in a TikTok video.
Her story quickly racked up millions of views, made headlines, and ultimately brought her a movie deal that has taken Southeast Asia by storm.
Norma, which hit Indonesian theatres in March and Netflix in August, soon became one of the most watched movies, not just in Indonesia but also Malaysia and Singapore, where there are large Malay-Muslim populations.
It follows a winning formula that Indonesian filmmakers have discovered: adapting viral social media scandals.
Until this June, Indonesia's highest-grossing film of all time was KKN di Desa Penari, a 2022 horror story about the haunting of six university students, which came from a popular thread on social media. In 2023 came Sewu Dino, another horror flick adapted from a similar online story.
Equally popular are tales of a more salacious persuasion: Ipar Adalah Maut, a 2024 movie about an affair between a man and his sister-in-law that was marketed as a true story adapted from TikTok, and the drama series Layangan Putus, which also drew inspiration from TikTok.
Such themes are highly taboo in Indonesia, where adultery is punishable with jail time. But in this culture of religious conservatism, experts say, a voyeuristic interest in household scandals thrives.
Vero, a 42-year-old housewife in Jakarta, expressed her disgust at the events depicted in Norma and found it compelling enough to want to see the film. The film gained mixed reactions, as viewers wrestled with feelings of disgust and empathy for the characters.
Ultimately, the movie stands as a reflection of societal challenges, particularly regarding how narratives of female agency shape discussions on infidelity in Indonesia's patriarchal context. As Norma navigates her life after betrayal, the film provides a voice for many who have faced similar experiences.
