Director Joshua Oppenheimer spent seven years with former members of Indonesian death squads to try to understand why they killed, and why they remain so proud of their actions many years later. He challenges them to re-enact some of their many killings in the style of the cinematic genres they love, with the men playing themselves and their victims. In Indonesian and English.

In this chilling and groundbreaking documentary, former Indonesian death squad leaders reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of various film genres. As they recreate their past atrocities, the line between reality and performance blurs, exposing the lingering impact of Indonesia's 1965-66 anti-communist purge and the unsettling psychology of its perpetrators.