Beginning her career as assistant director and screenwriter in local film productions, Surya rose to prominence in 2008 for her directorial debut the psychological thriller Fiksi.

While in Australia, she ran a blog and became online friends with then-unknown Raditya Dika who was studying in Adelaide and later became a collaborator in the film adaptation of his best-selling book Kambing Jantan.

[4] Upon graduation, Surya came back to Indonesia and gained experience in the local film industry by working as assistant directors in Rako Prijanto's comedy-drama D'Bijis (2007) and romance Love Is Red (2007).

[5] Based on the advice of Riri Riza, they decided to seek another collaborator who could bring more experience in shaping the screenplay, which turned out to be producer Tia Hasibuan and Joko Anwar.

[11] The film performed poorly at the box office but received positive reviews from critics, with The Hollywood Reporter's Duane Byrge calling it a "touching and brilliantly envisioned story of a young, nearly blind teen's first love.

It premiered at the Directors' Fortnight event of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in May before receiving a domestic release later in November.

[4] Marsha Timothy stars as a young widow who is raped and violated by local thugs and sets out to take revenge on her attackers.

[23] In July 2018, Surya released a short music film We See You Jakarta on the YouTube channel of the English indie pop band The xx.

[26][27] The film, titled This City Is a Battlefield, is a war drama set in 1946 just after Indonesia's independence the previous year.

[31] Jessica Alba stars as a PTSD afflicted former service-member who inherits her grandfather's bar and soon discovers the truth behind his death.