Mount Merapi, a formidable volcano in Indonesia's Yogyakarta region, is one of the world's most active and powerful. Its 2010 eruption buried 350 lives under volcanic ash, and its crater continues to spew lava and smoke. What does it mean to live under the shadow of such an overwhelming and violent force of nature? Monisme, director Riar Rizaldi's first feature-length documentary, addresses this question. Renowned for his genre-bending works that offer new interpretations of civilization and nature, Rizaldi brings his unique perspective to this ambitious project. In Monisme, Rizaldi combines all the worldviews and methodologies he has explored in his previous works, transforming Mount Merapi into a stage for Indonesia's tumultuous history of political, social, and economic violence. The narrative, co-written by the director, local residents, and workers, weaves together the stories of a volcanologist, a volcano laborer, and a shaman, each representing a different way of relating to the volcano. Rizaldi assigns these roles to a single actor, who embodies the diverse perspectives, while integrating footage from interviews and observational scenes. This hybrid film, oscillating between observational documentary, ethnography, and horror, offers a broader cosmological framework for understanding the exploitation, massacres, and plunder that have marked Indonesia's modern history. As the whispered voice in the film suggests, "Humanity began with Merapi, and it must meet Merapi again."