Beta Sofiyansyah

In remote Surabaya there lives Cak Kartolo, an old widower who opens a boarding house for students. There are four students who live in the boarding house. They are Simon from Papua, Yusuf from Makassar, Mat from Tulungagung, and Boncel from Malang. Her neighbor, Ning Tini, is a widow with one child, Jon. In front of the house there is warkop Cak Sapari and his wife, Ms Dewi. There is also a Bendoyo guard who lacks hearing. But one day Cak Kartolo fell ill. Then came his daughter, Sari, who lived with Cak Kartolo's ex-wife in Jakarta. Sari's beauty makes four boarding school children compete to get her. Jon, who is Sari's childhood friend, is even forbidden from coming back. How will their rivalry end? Will Cak Kartolo recover and make peace with Sari?

Langgeng, a mute 10-year-old, struggles to care for his ailing father in a rundown village by the railway. Raised by Kartini, a prostitute and his mother’s friend, he clings to a worn photo of his mysteriously vanished mother and searches for her daily while selling newspapers and snacks. Along his journey, he encounters drug dealers, prostitutes, thugs, and a tender gay couple, all showing him compassion and sharing fragments of his family’s story. Anthology of Darkness interweaves Langgeng’s quest with the lives of those around him, illuminating love, loss, and survival in the shadows of poverty.