Movie
Where All The Waves Go
Cultural messages
Screens Are Ruining Us
mediumThe film's central meditation is whether screen-built connections ('tender illusions') can survive or substitute for physical presence — the implicit answer is no, as Si Yuen arrives for closure rather than rekindling. Normal online communication (not malfunction) has generated false intimacy that collapses on physical meeting, fulfilling the core pattern. Two signals land: (1) a real human relationship has effectively deteriorated because the digital alternative created incompatible expectations for each party; (2) the convenience of the screen relationship is shown to hollow out genuine connection — the wishlist they built online cannot bridge the gap in person. Signals for addiction/zombie behavior, algorithmic manipulation, or a tech-rejecter framed as wiser are absent, keeping the count at 2.
About this message: Consumer technology — smartphones, social media, VR, the internet — is portrayed as inherently dehumanizing, addictive, or isolating, even when working as designed. The technology doesn't malfunction; its normal use is the problem.
Movies that share these tropes
Full plot (spoilers)
Where All The Waves Go is a 19-minute Indonesian short drama directed by Andries Bagas Pangestu. Aryo (Mochisyam Hidayat), a young Indonesian man, has spent years maintaining an online relationship with Si Yuen (Pavel Gunawan), a Singaporean he met during the COVID-19 lockdown. The two made a promise to meet in person one day, and the film begins as that promise is finally fulfilled: they meet in Jakarta for what may be their first and only face-to-face encounter. Aryo arrives hoping to rekindle their connection, carrying an old notepad filled with a wishlist the two had imagined together during their time apart. Si Yuen, however, has come seeking quiet closure rather than a rekindled romance. The film follows the pair through Jakarta as they work through the items on that shared list, the gap between Aryo's longing for something new and Si Yuen's need to gently end what they had creating the film's central tension. The narrative meditates on whether the tender illusions built through a screen can survive — or meaningfully substitute for — physical presence and the passage of time. No scene-by-scene breakdown is available from public sources; the above represents the full plot as described in official promotional and festival materials for this short film.
Sources: TMDb, 100% Manusia Film Festival page