Anxietus Domicupus (2021) — A Delivery Courier and Her Anxiety
- Asi Dewiana Sandra Putri
- Ailsa Luthfia Indrasari Laksana Putri
Language is typically one of the first cues audiences use to determine a character’s identity in a film. The words someone chooses and the accent they carry can reveal their origins and personality. In this film, however, the language spoken is an entirely invented one, a fusion of Javanese, Japanese, and Latin that sounds distinctly foreign to the ear.
Anxietus Domicupus is a fiction film following a girl named Dopaminus, who is tasked with delivering a package of instant noodles to a yellow octopus named Endorfinus. Set in outer space, the film is a work of fantasy, and the constructed language becomes a crucial element of that world, serving not merely as a communication tool but as a clear signal that its characters are alien beings from a reality far removed from ordinary human experience.
Beyond language, the film contains other unusual details that teeter between bewildering and genuinely funny. One of the most memorable is Dopaminus’s laser sword. Unlike the weapons in Star Wars, which ignite at the press of a button, this laser sword requires a mobile signal to function, much like a cell phone searching for reception. If the signal is weak, the sword simply refuses to work.
Another distinctive quality comes from Dopaminus herself, who is portrayed as someone in a state of constant anxiety, relying on medication and bananas to calm her nerves. Much like the invented language, the use of bananas in place of water further reinforces the sense of a world governed by unfamiliar customs and habits.
Visually, the film opens in animation before transitioning into live-action footage with realistic characters and special effects, including CGI. This shift creates a striking visual experience, guiding the audience from an imaginative, illustrated world into something that feels more grounded and tangible.
The film’s central conceit and the meaning behind its title, Anxietus Domicupus is crystallized in its final moments. After a delivery gone wrong, Dopaminus, weighed down by anxiety throughout, finds her small moment of peace not through medication or bananas, but through a single cup of instant noodles she eats once the mission has failed.
Editor Ailsa Luthfia Indrasari Laksana Putri
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