An Indonesian dystopian thriller, 24 Hours with Gaspar is a recently released Netflix film revolving around a private detective, Gaspar, with a critical heart condition, trying to solve the mystery of his childhood friend Kirana’s disappearance. This film is set in the near future, where the National Security Agency has taken over common people’s lives, constantly monitoring them and controlling their personal data. In the meantime, information about a mass murder surfaced, perhaps orchestrated by the state, as evidenced by the discovery of more than 200 bodies in a grave. The world has already been dealing with a plague in 2025, and people are seen wearing masks to protect themselves from the pandemic. In the meantime, Gaspar gets his hands on a blood sample of a man who is a human trafficker, likely to be the one responsible for Kirana’s disappearance. So let’s see if Gaspar will be able to take his revenge on this man and find out what really happened to Kirana.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In the Film?
Gaspar, an orphan child with a congenital anomaly called dextrocardia, was raised by an elderly man named Babaji, who used to tell him mythical stories of Shri Krishna and how he lifted Govardhan Hill with his finger to protect his people. He also told him the story of a black box, which was a magical box able to fulfill any wish. A young Gaspar became fascinated by the box, so Babaji asked him what he would wish for if he ever got the box, to which Gaspar replied that he would love to have a friend. One day, young Gaspar stumbled upon a young girl named Kirana, who swiftly became his best friend and his playmate. Since childhood, Gaspar has had a knack for investigating crime and solving mysteries, and Kirana has loved to help him in his pursuit. However, Kirana’s father, Wan-Ali, took his daughter and moved away from the neighborhood, which broke Gaspar’s heart. He recalled that Kirana had once asked him whether he would try to find her if she ever went missing. Gaspar was a mere child when Kirana and him drifted apart, but growing up, Gaspar realized that something might have gone wrong with her, which was why she never tried to contact him. Gaspar found out through some of his informants that Wan-Ali had sold Kirana to an organ trafficker, which led him to seek his revenge against him.
Did Gaspar Take His Revenge On Wan-Ali?
Gaspar got his hands on some vaccine samples, which his informant had stolen from the lab. He found a blood sample of one of the men who had been vaccinated during the onset of the plague. These people who got vaccinated were in close contact with the state, which proved that the state was also involved in the organ trafficking racket. Gaspar then learned from Wan-Ali’s sister-in-law, Bu Tati, that Wan-Ali had helped her during her crisis, when her husband committed suicide due to his failure to pay off his debts. However, Gaspar knew the truth behind Wan-Ali, so he decided to further investigate him. He came to know about a jewelry shop owned by Bu Tati’s son, Yadi, and Wan-Ali, who was actually plotting to grab Yadi’s store as well as his wife. Even Yadi had no idea that Wan-Ali had already been sleeping with his wife behind his back. One day, Gaspar showed Yadi some video footage of a hotel room, and he was immensely shocked to discover how dangerous Wan-Ali was.
Meanwhile, Bu Tati also had a deep sense of trust and respect for Wan-Ali, so Gaspar told her the truth about her husband’s death. It was revealed that Bu Tati’s husband didn’t kill himself, but he was killed by Wan-Ali, who grabbed all his money and lied to Bu Tati about the debts her husband had left for her. Actually, Bu Tati’s husband, Bachtiar, had the precious black box in his possession, and one day, by mistake, he’d told Wan-Ali about the box and its power to fulfill any wish. Wan-Ali couldn’t control his greed, so he got rid of Bachtiar and took possession of his black box.
After Gaspar revealed the truth to Bu Tati, she decided to help him on his mission to take revenge on Ali. Not just Tati or Yadi were by his side, but also Agnes, a young rebel woman, and Gaspar’s love interest was by his side. Meanwhile, knowing that Gaspar had only 24 hours left to live, his ex-girlfriend, Kik, and her current boyfriend, Njet, also came forward to help him. Together, they sketched a plan to rob Ali’s jewelry shop,to steal the gold and the black box, which would be able to help Gaspar know the truth about Kirana.
However, initially, their plan didn’t succeed as Gaspar thought that there would be no one in the jewelry store, but perhaps Wan-Ali had already anticipated the attack and hid inside the store with his men waiting for Gaspar to show up. As Gaspar’s team confronted them, they were shocked to see Wan-Ali and his group of armed men pointing their guns at them. Gaspar and his team managed to run away from the store, but Ali’s men chased their car. Kik pulled out her gun and shot the bike’s tire to overtake them, while Gaspar returned to the store to have a final confrontation with Ali. As Ali was left alone in the store, Gaspar took the opportunity to have an altercation with him. As Gaspar defeated him and asked him to reveal where he kept the black box, Ali refused to say anything. Gaspar grabbed a scissor and chopped his finger off, but as Ali still remained silent, Gaspar connected the dots and remembered that there was a warehouse where Ali used to visit. Gaspar had previously followed him to the warehouse, which might be the place where Ali had hidden the box. Without wasting time, Gaspar rushed towards the warehouse to find out the truth.
What Happened To Kirana?
Upon his arrival at the warehouse, Gaspar found numerous helpless kids locked up inside a cell. They had all been captured, like Kirana, and Wan-Ali was about to sell their organs to his customers. Kirana had faced the same tragic fate, which Gaspar realized after he finally got his hands on the magical black box. Kirana had also been imprisoned in this warehouse, and she couldn’t survive till the end. Her father, Wan-Ali, had sold her organs in order to restore his financial status, which broke Gaspar’s heart. Gaspar couldn’t save Kirana’s life, but he was at least at peace that he had been able to find out the truth about her disappearance. Gaspar freed all the children, who were finally spared from the inhuman torture the human trafficking gang was about to inflict upon them. Therefore, even though Gaspar couldn’t protect Kirana’s life, he served his purpose by saving those innocent children’s lives.
Did Gaspar Survive?
At the end of 24 Hours with Gaspar, we saw Gaspar’s team was fortunately alive, and they returned to the store, where Wan-Ali was found dead on the floor. They grabbed all the gold and the money from the store, which would be enough to solve each of their financial crises. However, things ended very tragically with Gaspar, as there were only a few minutes left in his life, and it seemed like he would not make it out alive. While he was returning from the store on his bike, he suffered an accident and ended up at the bank of a river. His body was found by some impoverished locals, who took all the clothes, shoes, and everything Gaspar possessed. The film didn’t explicitly show if Gaspar survived the fall or if he would die because of his fatal injuries and his critical heart condition, but at least he had closure in his life, as even in the closing moments of his life, he’d become useful to a lot of people, who finally got a new reason to live in the messed up world.
