Siti si Vampir delivers horror comedy with a jab at class inequality

Siti si Vampir is not only a story about blood-drinking creatures. Behind its horror-comedy premise, Rahabi Mandra’s film takes aim at social problems, including the gap between classes.

Siti, played by Satine Zaneta, is a young woman who lives simply with her father in the Bojong Kenyot public housing complex. She helps him run a food stall, carrying stock and serving customers, but dreams of becoming wealthy and an influencer. Her life changes dramatically after she meets Nakula, a vampire played by Ciccio Manassero.

“ Siti is a woman obsessed with becoming rich, becoming an influencer. She is completely obsessed with changing her life. But one day her life really does change. What does she become? A vampire,” Satine said in an interview with Republika in Jakarta. Siti then moves from a modest daily life into a vampire society portrayed as luxurious, exclusive and glamorous.

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Siti is a woman obsessed with becoming rich, becoming an influencer. She is completely obsessed with changing her life. But one day her life really does change. What does she become? A vampire.

“ The difference between the daily lives of humans and vampires is clear. Vampires are elite, glamorous and premium. Siti is actually a hardworking woman. She helps her father, carries water gallons and carries gas,” Satine said. That contrast provides the film’s satire of class inequality, bringing an economically constrained human world into contact with an influential elite group.

Satine said playing Siti before her transformation required more work than playing her as a vampire. She studied the character’s Bekasi identity, including the accent and everyday language. Nakula, meanwhile, is an established and respected figure among the elite vampires. He proposes a pilot project to secure large supplies of human blood. The vampires have stopped attacking humans and rely on synthetic blood, but Nakula wants to build a system for collecting human blood.

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The difference between the daily lives of humans and vampires is clear. Vampires are elite, glamorous and premium. Siti is actually a hardworking woman. She helps her father, carries water gallons and carries gas.