e-ISSN: 2723-6692 p-ISSN: 2723-6595
Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences, Vol. 5, No. 9, September 2024 2228
displayed in audio-visual form as another representation of reality. The essence of a documentary is
not just a medium for conveying reality information. However, also filmmakers want the audience to
be able to understand and empathize with the problems that are the focus of the film's problems.
Therefore, the main story must be interesting and persuasive, combining certain points of view and
plot to create tension for the audience (Diniasti & Haqqu, 2022).
In 2023, there was a documentary that managed to steal the attention of the public in Indonesia,
namely the documentary "Ice Cold: Murder Coffee and Jessica Wongso". This film has become very
popular because it managed to rank first as one of the ten highest-grossing films in Indonesia,
according to Netflix, on October 15, 2023. The content of the film is in the spotlight because this film
reviews the murder case using cyanide coffee that occurred in 2016. The community was shocked
by the case of cyanide coffee, where there was a victim who died due to consuming coffee that was
suspected to have been mixed with cyanide. According to Kompas.com, the death of Wayan Mirna
Salihin, commonly referred to as the cyanide coffee case, was one of the most widely reported
incidents in 2016 (Nursita, 2016). This incident not only attracts local attention but also attracts
international attention (Dewi, 2016). The film "Ice Cold: Murder Coffee and Jessica Wongso" meets
the criteria proposed by Paul Wels to be categorized as a documentary. This can be seen from
interviews with the victim and the convict, the existence of original footage without engineering, and
the discussion of social issues that have been a hot topic in the community. This film also managed
to steal the public's attention successfully.
This documentary, the result of a collaboration between Netflix and Beach House Picture, was
officially aired on September 28, 2023 (Sianturi, 2023). With a duration of 1 hour and 26 minutes,
this film combines a documentary on the cyanide coffee case trial with interviews with interviewees
involved during the trial. More than 15 interviewees, including the victims' families, families of
convicts and experts, gave their views on the case. In this documentary, there is discourse control if
you choose the right speakers. The film begins with a friendship between Jessica Wongso and Wayan
Mirna Salihin, tragically ending when Mirna dies after consuming coffee at a café. Jessica was arrested
and sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of premeditated murder. "Ice Cold: Murder Coffee
and Jessica Wongso" is a documentary that explores many points of view around this case, offers a
comprehensive exploration of its complexity and perspective, raises a discussion about the truth of
court decisions and irregularities in the Indonesia legal system, The complexity is a special concern
in society so that it becomes an interesting problem for research to be conducted. On the other hand,
this documentary provides space for experts and also the public to assess and provide social criticism
on criminal justice cases in Indonesia in handling the trial of cyanide coffee cases. some questions
arise, such as how a person can be declared a convict in a case when the evidence submitted is
classified as weak or not clear enough (Sayyaf, 2023).
The legal criminal justice in Indonesia functions to uphold law and justice, as well as protect the
community. Over time, criminal justice in Indonesia has developed structurally and substantially. In
the structural aspect, Indonesia's criminal justice system began with the colonial justice system and
changed to the national justice system. The development of criminal justice in Indonesia, which is
marked by the existence of the 1945 Constitution and Law No. 8 of 1981 concerning the Criminal
Procedure Law, is characterized by the application of fundamental legal principles such as the
principle of presumption of innocence, equality before the law, and the enforcement of justice. This
development aims to realize a fairer and more transparent criminal justice (Sriwidodo, 2020).
Based on the researcher's observation of comments and feedback from the public, most of which
were conveyed through comments on social media, especially on the Media X platform, there were
several netizens who expressed their dissatisfaction with the results of the cyanide coffee trial. They
voiced concern about alleged irregularities in law enforcement. Examples and concrete evidence of
this dissatisfaction can be seen in the comments they wrote, which highlighted various aspects that
were considered controversial or unsatisfactory in handling the case.