Dopamine Film Review: Full Romance Of Survival From Angga-Shenina

Poster Dopamin (Starvision Plus)

JAKARTA - The film Dopamine is the latest work by Teddy Soeria Atmadja in collaboration with the production house Starvision Plus. This film became Angga Yunanda and Shenina Cinnamon's first collaboration after getting married last February.

This film combines a romance-survival genre that tells the story of the struggle of a married couple in the midst of chaotic world and how they save each other.

Dopamin tells the story of a young husband and wife: Malik (Angga Yunanda) and Alya (Shenina Cinnamon) who experience a decline after Malik gets laid off. Not to mention that Alya was revealed to be pregnant with their first child.

Malik, who owes here and there, also delays paying their rent, is in danger of having to leave the house. Malik tries to find a new job by applying for a job at a company.

One night, Malik's car had problems on the road until a man came to help Malik. Because it was not good, Malik finally invited the man to stay at his house considering the heavy rain did not stop.

Malik and Alya felt they were fine, until they found the man dead in their house. Not only that, they found a box of suitcases containing money that became the beginning of happiness as well as the destruction of their second household.

This premise may remind viewers of Beasts Crawling at Straws (2020) or No Other Choice that airs this year, where a pair is related to money.

This film begins with an ambitious feeling and something that catches the audience's attention. Angga and Shenina present good chemistry as husband and wife, perhaps because they are not far from their daily life.

Behind the chemistry, there are indeed many questions in the story. The presence of various other characters such as lack of clarity or strong motives, leaves a temporary impression in memory even though they have the potential to connect with their main conflicts.

The presence of Mr. RT or Mrs. Warung's character is not used as a liaison but just a patch. Maybe this is the director's way to keep the focus of the story directed to Malik and Alya.

The use of songs in this film is also not always effective in scenes, although the number of songs is also interesting because it is a favorite musician of Gen-Z generation.

The film Dopamine can still be enjoyed with an interesting story to watch, especially coming from a couple that Indonesian audiences want.

The film Dopamine is showing in Indonesian cinemas starting Thursday, November 13.