[1] According to producer Yulia Evina Bhara, the idea to make the film began with an initiative to create murals of Indonesian poets which she was a part of alongside writer Okky Madasari and women's rights activist Tungal Pawestri.
[3] Writer Mumu Aloha developed the story before Noen made it into a screenplay, after which the production team decided that the film would focus on Thukul's time while in exile in Pontianak.
[2] In a review for Tirto, writer Dea Anugrah criticized the film for depicting Thukul as someone who "turned his back on Java, the main arena for politics and culture in Indonesia" while "hiding in fear".
[6] In contrast with Anugrah's review, Pasaribu instead praised the film for "not romanticiz[ing] Thukul as some kind of superhuman [...] who is sometimes powerless in his struggle against tyranny and injustice.
[8] Tsui further compared the film favorably to Anocha Suwichakornpong's By the Time It Gets Dark which "offers a poignant reflection of humanity drawn from the turbulent recent histories of Southeast Asia.