Is Lift Worth Watching? Our Review of This Elevator Thriller

This Lift review starts with a simple question: how much tension can one metal box hold? Indonesian director Randy Chans builds a psychological thriller around a stalled elevator, a menacing voice and a mother with no good options. It is a modest, talky film, but the premise has grip.

Lift Review: The Story So Far (No Spoilers)

The Lift plot centres on PT Jamsa Land, a company still haunted by an office elevator accident that claimed many lives six years earlier. Now trouble returns. Hansen, the acting director, vanishes, and Linda, a public relations staffer, is trapped when an elevator stops suddenly.

A mysterious voice speaks to her through the intercom. Her child is taken hostage, and Linda has to join a dangerous game she never agreed to. As it unfolds, the game starts to expose the dark secrets behind the old tragedy.

That is where this review stops. The film is a Thriller with a Mystery at its core, and the pleasure lies in the way it feeds you clues.

What Works in Lift

The confined setting is the film's best card. Local coverage, including a review on Suara, singled out how well Lift uses limited space, and that matches the premise. When most of the drama happens in a lift and over an intercom, every pause and every line of dialogue counts.

The corporate backdrop also helps. A company with a buried disaster is a believable source of guilt, and it gives the voice on the line a motive worth wondering about.

A Mother's Stakes

The hostage element keeps the emotion simple and strong. Linda is not a detective or an action hero. She is an ordinary employee under pressure, and that makes her choices easier to relate to.

At 98 minutes, the film also avoids overstaying its welcome. For a single-location idea, that is a sensible length.

Lift Cast and Performances

The Lift cast is led by Ismi Melinda as Linda, and she carries most of the film. Early reactions praised the acting as engaging and emotional, which fits a role that depends on fear, anger and desperation shown in tight quarters.

The supporting players include:

• Shareefa Daanish as Doris

• Verdi Solaiman as Hansen

• Alfie Alfandy as Mr. X

• Tegar Satrya as Joko

• Max Metino as Anton

The cast list hints at a web of colleagues and suspects, and the mystery relies on that web. The voice-driven scenes put pressure on performers to convey menace without a lot of physical action.

Where Lift Stumbles

Coverage so far is thin, and audience reactions are mixed. One viewer found the film more dialogue-heavy than expected, and that is a fair warning. A thriller set in an elevator can feel static if the conversations do not keep escalating.

Critic and audience scores on Skorfilm sit at 6.0 and 5.4, which suggests a film with a strong hook but uneven delivery. Viewers who want constant action or big scares may feel the pace is too contained.

The film also leans on an old-tragedy mystery, a familiar device. Whether it feels fresh depends on how much you enjoy slow reveals.

Is Lift Worth Watching?

Yes, if you like contained psychological thrillers and can accept a talky approach. Director Randy Chans and writer Aria Gardhadipura offer a tight idea with a human anchor, and Ismi Melinda gives the premise emotional weight.

It is not a must-see for everyone. Ratings are middling and the sample size is small, so treat it as a solid local thriller rather than a standout. The Lift release date in Indonesia was 26 February 2026, and it carries a 17+ rating there.

If you want more of the same, our Indonesian horror and mystery coverage is a good next stop.

Who Will Enjoy Lift

• Fans of single-location thrillers and psychological mind games

• Viewers who like mysteries that unravel through dialogue

• Anyone curious about recent Indonesian genre cinema