The Elixir

11.4 million views. The audience score still sat at 26 percent.

Netflix's Indonesian zombie original The Elixir, Abadi Nan Jaya at home, jumped to No. 1 on the Global Top 10 Non-English Films list after the October 23, 2025 drop. ScreenRant put the first partial week at 11.4 million viewers and 22.4 million hours. In the October 20-26 window it ranked first in Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, and Turkey, and Top 10 in 75 countries. It was the fourth most-watched title on the whole service that week, behind A House of Dynamite, The Perfect Neighbor, and KPop Demon Hunters. The Popcornmeter was 26 percent from more than 50 user reviews, with too few critic notices for a Tomatometer. latestnetflix.com's view is that People hit play, then complained in the same breath.That gap is the story. , ,

The tonic that was supposed to sell youth

Kimo Stamboel, coming off Impetigore and The Queen of Black Magic, told Netflix he wanted a zombie film that "truly feels Indonesian, not just in its setting or language, but in its very core." The outbreak starts with jamu, the herbal drink you can buy at a warung. Donny Damara's Sadimin runs Wani Waras, drinks a prototype he brands Abadi Nan Jaya, Everlasting and Glorious, a line taken from the patriotic song Indonesia Pusaka, and the family firm becomes Patient Zero. Makeup artist Astrid Sambudiono built the undead on the pitcher plant, kantong semar, with pores, cavities, and inner veins designed on a computer before they hit the actors. Malobika Banerji, Netflix's senior director of content for Southeast Asia, had said zombie demand in the region was being filled by Korean and English titles, so the streamer wanted local culture in the outbreak. Stamboel wrote it with Agasyah Karim and Khalid Kashogi. , ,

The soap is what holds the first half hour. Kenes, Mikha Tambayong, comes home to Wanirejo near Yogyakarta to push a buyout and finds her father married to her best friend, Eva Celia's Karina. Marthino Lio is the brother. Dimas Anggara is the husband waiting on a payout. Then Sadimin's new face starts to split. Polygon treated the film as a surprise rather than a prestige drop. Casey's Movie Mania praised the gore and Patrick Tashadian's village photography, then called the story hollow once the running starts. That split matches the charts. The official trailer went up October 10, about ten days before launch, and sold the family before the horde. , ,

Bantul, not a soundstage Texas

Principal photography ran around Bantul in Yogyakarta and Magelang in Central Java. What's on Netflix dated the shoot June 10 to August 23, 2024. Eva Celia talked to Antara about working in Piyungan, Bantul, which is the kind of location horror fans actually trade. Netflix unveiled the project in June 2024 at its Southeast Asia showcase, paired with Carlo Ledesma's Philippine zombie film Outside. Stamboel produced with Edwin Nazir for Mowin Pictures. Runtime is 116 minutes. Indonesian and Javanese both sit on the track. , ,

The mid-credits sting, Grace in Jakarta tasting the same vial, is the sequel bait everyone clocked. Whether Netflix funds a city outbreak is rumor until a slate says so. For now the column is simpler. A jamu commercial went global the week before Halloween, the pitcher-plant extras did the heavy lifting, and the score stayed mean.