Controlled budget
The story runs on two principal locations (the living room and the bakery) plus a village road, a warung and a car.
Case file / synopsis
REKAMAN 401
Four film students go to a remote village to record a forbidden book, the Kitab Shams. Four months later, a crew member sits an old neighbor down in front of footage from that night. Three of the students are still missing. The tapes show a bakery, a missing woman and a game of hide-and-seek that must last until dawn. The final tape should never be played after dusk.
REKAMAN 401 is an Indonesian horror mockumentary told entirely as found footage. Every image comes from a camera inside the story: an interview camera, a student's handheld, a small GoPro and a 2015 selfie vlog. The incantation is never heard in full until the final scene.
Putri, Dery and Yudis, all 23, and Adam, who films, drive to a village to record the Kitab Shams, a book nobody should read. Their neighbor Sugiono warns them that a single page is enough to pull a reader in. He sends them to Ine, who runs the abandoned Sari Nirmala bakery at the end of the road. Ine's rules are strict: finish before Maghrib, touch nothing, and never film the room near the kitchen. That room belonged to her daughter.
The 2015 vlog explains what happened at the bakery. Sarah, a 25-year-old culinary intern, was asked to watch Zahra, Ine's seven-year-old daughter. Zahra asked whether she would become bread if she went into the oven, and later hid inside it during a game of hide-and-seek. On the last day, Zahra climbed the old well and fell in. Sarah went missing in July 2015. Ine then performed a ritual on Sarah, trying to bring her daughter home.
Four months later, the students are gone. Three have never been found. Putri was found on a roadside two weeks after they vanished, and she has not spoken since. A crew member named Bob holds footage from a survivor and sits Sugiono down in front of it. The footage shows the students' last night: the GoPro, the locked doors, and a barefoot woman in a yellow dress whom the crew calls Sarah.
The truth about the book, and the ending, is in the FULL CASE FILE at chapters 10 to 12. It opens after a two-second hold.
Who is who
- Putri, 23
- The survivor. Found on a roadside two weeks later. She has not spoken since.
- Dery, 23
- Hid inside the third oven during the game. Still missing.
- Yudis, 23
- Left the GoPro on the third oven. Still missing.
- Adam
- Filmed the night on a handheld camera. Still missing.
- Bob, 34
- Crew member. Holds the footage and interviews Sugiono in front of it.
- Sugiono Slamet Hardjono, 69
- Neighbor from Ponorogo. Has lived alone in the village since 2001. Never married.
- Ine (Irine Suranti), 52
- Owner of the Sari Nirmala bakery. Keeper of its rules. Her daughter Zahra fell into the well in 2015.
- Sarah
- Intern who filmed the 2015 vlog. Missing since July 2015. The barefoot woman in the yellow dress is her ghost.
- Zahra, 7
- Ine's daughter. Fell into the well in 2015.
How to watch: scroll to play the tape. Each chapter has a short summary under its title.
Chapters 10 to 12 contain the ending. They sit behind a two-second hold.
00 / THE WARNING
In the storyA narrator warns that some texts are not meant to be read, and that this tape must not be played after Maghrib.
There are texts written not to be read.
Not because the language is hard. But because every word in them refuses the light.
What is hidden will always be searched for. And what is searched for too long… will begin to search back.
This recording is not here to prove anything. Only to warn.
If you keep watching, remember one thing.
Do not repeat anything you hear.
JANGAN DIPUTAR SETELAH MAGRIB
Do not play after Maghrib
TAPE 001 → 401
01 / THE INTERVIEW
In the storyBob, a crew member, sits Sugiono (69) down on camera. Sugiono says he has never met the four students. Each lie makes his knee shake.
BOB CAM
Sound? / Rolling.
Sugiono Slamet Hardjono, 69. Lives alone. Never married.
Hold the frame still.
Knee tremor
02 / THE ROAD
In the storyPutri, Dery, Yudis and Adam drive to the village and joke about summoning the dead. Putri's father leaves a voicemail from the hospital, and she does not call back.
"If the book really has a ritual, is that dangerous?"
"Who would you summon?"
03 / THE NEIGHBOR
In the storySugiono warns them: a man once read one page of the book, and his child died before he reached the second. He sends them to Ine's bakery at the end of the road. A poster of Sarah Amalia, missing since July 2015, hangs behind them.
"A book? What do you want with something like that?"
"Just one page. After that, nobody dared say his name."
"You heard one sentence, you're already inside it."
"Go see Ine. The one with the empty bakery at the end of the road."
04 / SARI NIRMALA
In the storyThe bakery is abandoned, but the gate has a new padlock. Ine's rules: finish before Maghrib, touch nothing, do not use the side door, do not film the room near the kitchen. Then something knocks from inside.
New padlock. Still shiny.
Third oven. Glass wiped clean.
Melamine plate, upside down.
Do not film this room.
Move or tap to move the light.
- Finish before Maghrib.
- Touch nothing. If something falls, leave it.
- Do not use the side door. It's propped with a log.
- Do not film the room near the kitchen.
05 / THE GOPRO
In the storyYudis leaves a GoPro on the third oven. It records Ine walking through with a barefoot woman in a yellow dress, who holds Ine's dress like a frightened child. The woman taps the oven glass and laughs silently. The crew identifies her as Sarah.
Yudis: “Bismillah. Viral.”
Barefoot woman, yellow dress. The crew calls her Sarah.
06 / THE TAPES OF 2015
In the storySarah's 2015 vlog, filmed while she was an intern. Ine asks her to watch Zahra, seven. Zahra asks whether she would become bread in the oven, then hides inside it during hide-and-seek. On the last day, Zahra climbs the old well and falls in.
RECFront cam
DAY 2 · 14:07
"I almost spilled a whole kilo of salt."
Zahra (7): "If I go in there, do I become bread?"
Sarah: "You'd get burned."
1 / 3
07 / MAGHRIB
In the storyThe students return at Maghrib for the GoPro, with 11% battery. The doors lock behind them, and the barefoot woman runs off, jingling her keys. The rule: stay hidden until the dawn call. Whoever is found, dies.
I left a GoPro inside.
Don't go back.
Azan
08 / HIDE
In the storyThe count runs to fifty. Sarah finds Yudis and drags him toward the well. Dery hides in the third oven, and Sarah turns on the gas. The oven timer beeps, and a hand leaves a print on the glass.
THE RULE: Don't get found until the dawn call. Don't make a sound.
Strikes: 0/3
0
09 / THE WELL
In the storyA light flickers under the water of the well: Yudis's phone. Ine calls for Zahra from the front door. A man's voice, which Ine seems to recognize, asks her to play. The chant is never heard in this chapter.
CLASSIFIED
FULL CASE FILE
Chapters 10 to 12 hold the ending. Press and hold to open the record.
13 / THE CLOSING
In the storyFor investors: the offer, the return model, the three scenarios and the risks.
Recording 401
The tape needs one more viewer.
The offer
Raise
IDR 300,000,000
Equity offered
20%
Implied project valuation
IDR 1,500,000,000
Investor share per ticket
IDR 3,500
20% × IDR 17,500
Break-even
85,715 admissions
IDR 300,000,000 ÷ IDR 3,500
Use of funds
[TO BE CONFIRMED]
Release window
[TO BE CONFIRMED]
Distribution partner
XXI [TO BE CONFIRMED]
Legal structure
[TO BE CONFIRMED]
Return model
IDR 17,500 is the net amount per ticket that reaches the production side after the XXI share. The investor is entitled to 20% pari passu of all those producer receipts, including return of capital. Ancillary income (streaming, TV, international, merchandise) is excluded and treated as upside. Projections are illustrative scenarios, not guarantees.
| Scenario | Admissions | Producer net | Investor 20% | Net gain | Multiple | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | 200,000 | IDR 3,500,000,000 | IDR 700,000,000 | +IDR 400,000,000 | 2.33x | +133% |
| MID | 1,000,000 | IDR 17,500,000,000 | IDR 3,500,000,000 | +IDR 3,200,000,000 | 11.67x | +1,067% |
| BOX OFFICE | 3,000,000 | IDR 52,500,000,000 | IDR 10,500,000,000 | +IDR 10,200,000,000 | 35.00x | +3,400% |
If the IDR 17,500 is pure profit after the budget is recovered
The investor then receives 20% of profit plus the IDR 300M capital back.
- LOW: IDR 1,000,000,000 (3.33x)
- MID: IDR 3,800,000,000 (12.67x)
- BOX OFFICE: IDR 10,800,000,000 (36.00x)
Three ovens
The bakery had five ovens. The third one was the clean one.
LOW
200,000 admissions
IDR 0
Investor share, 2.33x
MID
1,000,000 admissions
IDR 0
Investor share, 11.67x
BOX OFFICE
3,000,000 admissions
IDR 0
Investor share, 35.00x
Calculator
200,0001,000,0003,000,000
Yellow tick: break-even at 85,715 admissions
- Producer net receipts
- IDR 17,500,000,000
- Investor 20% share
- IDR 3,500,000,000
- Net gain on IDR 300M
- IDR 3,200,000,000
- Return multiple
- 11.67x
- ROI
- 1,067%
Timeline
Close
[TO BE CONFIRMED]
Production
[TO BE CONFIRMED]
Release
[TO BE CONFIRMED]
Settlement
[TO BE CONFIRMED]
Why this project
Creative constraint as a feature
Four in-world cameras and no non-diegetic score reduce post-production cost and strengthen the found-footage identity.
Built for word of mouth
The "do not play after Maghrib" hook, the 401 tally and the hide-and-seek game are shareable, and this website demonstrates the engagement mechanic.
[INSERT VERIFIED COMPARABLE INDONESIAN HORROR RELEASES AND THEIR ADMISSIONS]
Box office outcomes are uncertain. Scenarios are illustrative and not a guarantee of returns. Investment terms are subject to a definitive agreement reviewed by legal counsel. Figures use a per-ticket net of IDR 17,500 and a 20% equity stake, as set out above.