Acha Septriasa and Abimana Aryasatya return to star in Bulan Terbelah di Langit Amerika (Split Moon in the American Sky), the latest movie adaptation of one of Hanum Salsabiela Rais and Rangga Almahendra'€™s novels.

Acha Septriasa and Abimana Aryasatya mark their return to the screen after starring in 99 Cahaya di Langit Eropa (Ninety-nine Lights in the European Sky) and its two sequels '€” the predecessors of their latest film Bulan Terbelah di Langit Amerika (Split Moon in the American Sky).

The latest film, Bulan Terbelah, gives a glimpse of life as a Muslim in the US following the 9/11 tragedy.

The film, directed by Rizal Mantovani, begins with an American Muslim family celebrating the birthday of the daughter, Sarah Hussein, a day before the tragedy.

The mother, Azima Hussein, is a little bit suspicious of her husband, Ibrahim Hussein, who receives a strange call during the celebration and later dies during the attack when he visits the tower.

Fast forwarding to eight years later, the story carries on with a viral video of Sarah who is looking for her father who has been missing since the 9/11 attacks and is believed by many to be one of the terrorists behind them.

The video prompts an editor of a newspaper in Vienna, Gertrude Robinson, to assign Hanum (Acha Septriasa) to go to New York to write a story that aims to find an answer to the question: '€œWould the world be better without Islam?'€

Hanum goes to New York with her husband, Rangga, who also has a mission in New York to bring a billionaire-philanthropist Philipus Brown to his university in Vienna as one of his doctoral degree tasks.

In New York, they stay with Rangga'€™s best friend, Stefan (Nino Fernandez). A problem immediately rises as soon as they arrive in the city, when Rangga leaves an envelope that contains a list of names of people Hanum must interview for her story in a taxi.

As Rangga makes a plan to meet Brown, Hanum tries to find the address of Azima, helped by Stefan'€™s girlfriend Jasmine (Hannah Al Rashid).

On her way to Azima'€™s house, Hanum experiences some discrimination because of the headscarf she'€™s wearing. She manages to meet and talk with Azima and Sarah only briefly before Azima finds out that she is a journalist who wants to interview her.

As Azima asks her to leave, Hanum shows her that she is also there to help fix the image of Islam by showing the real value of her religion '€” a reason that makes Azima change her mind and agree to talk about her personal life.

The plot gets thicker when Hanum gets angry with Rangga as he can'€™t keep his promise to accompany her to find the missing document because Rangga was finally invited to a public lecture by Brown.

Hanum does get her document back, but she is later caught in the middle of a demonstration that turns violent and she loses the file again.

Keep the faith: Hanum (Acha Septriasa, center) faces discrimination because of the headscarf she wears.(Courtesy of Maxima Pictures)

Hearing the news of the riot, Rangga decides to go find her instead of continuing his way to Brown'€™s lecture, but to no avail.

The 109-minute film is brave as it shows the discrimination and phobia against Muslims living in the US, while giving balanced screen time for scenes that highlight interfaith tolerance, such as when a nun defends Hanum when she is confronted by a group of boys because of her veil.

Although the visual effects used to depict the attack are unconvincing, Rizal gives compelling pictures of New York that allow the audience to grasp the real sense of the city.

However, Rizal should have thought of more clever ways to put the supporting products into the movie so as not to disturb the plot and ruin the mood of the audience.

The storyline is quite heavy, but is still enjoyable, although the audience has to swallow so many improbable truths and coincidences in its last few minutes.

The use of English and the Indonesian language in the dialogues is actually confusing when the non-Indonesian characters suddenly switch to Indonesian in the middle of a conversation.

Abimana and Nino both maintain an interesting teamwork when conversation and gestures flow naturally between them, which benefits from their collaborations in the previous movies.

Acha and Rianti also deserve praise as they both deliver powerful acting that makes their roles as Muslim women who are safeguarding their faith in a liberal world intact.

The film 99 Cahaya became one of the most most-watched film in 2013 with more than 1 million viewers '€” a number that couldn'€™t be matched by its sequels.

Can Bulan Terbelah, which hits theaters on Dec. 17, repeat that success? If it can'€™t, the film still has the opportunity to endure at the local box office as films with religious themes are still popular among audiences.
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Bulan Terbelah di Langit Amerika

(Maxima Pictures; 109 minutes)

Director: Rizal Mantovani
Scriptwriters: Hanum Rais, Rangga Almahendra, Alim Sudio, Baskoro Adi
Cast: Acha Septriasa, Abimana Aryasatya, Nino Fernandez, Rianti Cartwright, Hannah Al Rashid