Pre-Feature Presentation: Democracy, Now Playing in Theaters Near You

The lights dim. The crowd hushes. And then, instead of trailers, the screen flickers to life with a produced montage of national progress, all under the watchful gaze of the current administration. Moviegoers last week found themselves treated to an unskippable pre-feature presentation: a video extolling the president’s achievements, rolled out across Indonesian cinemas without so much as a please or thank you. ^[1] Complaints flooded social media. Citizens paid for a ticket to escape reality, only to be reminded of it in the most official terms possible. ^[2]

The videos, according to reports, began appearing on September 9, 2025. ^[3] Some theaters reassured patrons that the experiment would last only about a week. ^[4] The government clarified that such displays are perfectly acceptable, provided they don’t disrupt the viewing experience. What could be more comforting than a state-sanctioned reminder of one’s place in the grand scheme of things? Or more aesthetically pleasing than the blend of patriotism and pre-roll ads? ^[5]

The government is technically correct: this is not without precedent. ^[6] Pre-film propaganda has a history, with past performances in New Order Indonesia, the Soviet Union, North Korea, Mao’s China, and 1930s Germany. All regimes with track records in human rights and personal freedoms that leave a certain flexibility in interpretation. ^[7] If the goal was to dispel any doubts about the president’s democratic credentials, mission accomplished. Nothing says ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’ quite like mandatory government messaging in what used to be a space for escapism.

Cinema, as a medium, has always been a battleground for ideology. The difference here is the lack of subtlety. In the past, propaganda had the decency to masquerade as art. Now, it arrives with all the nuance of a sledgehammer wrapped in a national flag. And yet, the government’s defense—that this is all quite ordinary—is the most damning indictment of all. When the bar for ‘normal’ includes the cinematic traditions of authoritarian regimes, one has to wonder: what, precisely, are we normalizing?

Perhaps this is merely the next step in the evolution of public service announcements. Why settle for reminders to buckle up or turn off your phone when you can have a full-throated celebration of executive achievement? If the trend continues, we may soon see government-approved trailers before the trailers, a pre-pre-feature presentation. If that sounds absurd, so does the idea that a night at the movies now comes with a side of soft power.

The most surprising thing about this development isn’t that it’s happening, but that anyone is surprised. In a world where every screen, from the smallest smartphone to the largest IMAX, is a potential billboard for power, the cinema was always going to get its turn. The only real question is whether the audience will clap at the end—or simply accept it as the cost of admission.