News

A weight hangs over the sunlit docks of Promised Hearts, Anggy Umbara’s latest Indonesian offering on Netflix, adapted from Habiburrahman El Shirazy’s novel. In this world of salt-kissed air and shifting loyalties, Niyala (Beby Tsabina) emerges freshly graduated in white coat and trembling hope—her destiny sold to Roger (Dito Darmawan) in twilight’s quiet ledger. Across oceans and obligations, Faiq (Deva Mahenra) returns from Cairo, heart divided between a new fiancée, Diah (Caitlin Halderman), and an unspoken bond older than memory.

The film’s undercurrent is a tangle of family debt, social expectation and secret pacts that threaten to drown fragile yearnings. Whispers of faith thread through dialogue, asking if duty can coexist with desire. A friends-to-lovers romance pulses beneath ritual prayers and harsh bargains, setting a stage where every glance holds the promise of betrayal or salvation—though which will triumph remains unseen.

The Unraveling of...

Netflix’s Promised Hearts, directed by Anggy Umbara, is never able to make the audience feel invested in its characters or story, largely because it doesn’t offer anything unique. The story, the conflicts, the characterization, and every other aspect of the film seemed ridiculously outdated. At times, the twists and turns seemed so absurd that one couldn’t help but question how somebody could write such a story and feel that the audience would connect with it in 2025. With that said, let’s explore everything that happened in the film.

Spoiler Alert

Why did Niyala decide to marry Roger?

Niyala and Faiq were classmates growing up, and they were inseparable from the very beginning. There was never a dull moment when Niyala was with Faiq, and the latter always looked after his friend and made sure nobody troubled her. At the beginning of Promised Hearts, we saw that one of Niyala’s classmates,...

Most friends-to-lovers romantic dramas hinge on the revelation that the 2 leads, who think that they are besties, are actually meant to be romantic partners. In the exhaustingly long Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Rahul and Anjali spend an ungodly amount of time figuring out if they actually want to marry each other, and then they have to get Salman Khan’s Aman to tell them that they should in fact marry each other. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, which is far less insufferable, has Jai and Aditi dating everyone but each other until the final scene. The same can be said about the sweet and relatable Thiruchitrambalam. Meri Pyaari Bindu is actually more realistic as Abhi and Bindu go from being friends to lovers to being friends again. Umjolo: Day Ones, despite being awful, explores the repercussions of realizing that you’re in love with your friend a little too late.

If you enjoy television melodramas, love stories, and sentimental tales, Netflix brings us “Promised Hearts,” a story designed to move the most sensitive audiences and those who love romantic stories and impossible loves.

Plot

Directed by Anggy Umbara, this film delves into the life of Niyala, a young woman who has just fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. However, her life takes a tumultuous turn when her father arranges her marriage to Roger, the son of the wealthiest businessman in her town, as a means to settle the family’s debts. This unexpected twist forces Niyala to confront the complexities of love and duty, especially when she has to deal with the reality that Faiq, the man she has loved since childhood, is going to marry someone else.

Promised Hearts

About the Film

“Promised Hearts” is a poignant exploration of personal sacrifice and social expectations, set against the vibrant cultural landscape of Indonesia.

Exclusive: Vietnam’s Mockingbird Pictures is launching international sales on a slate of Indonesian and Vietnamese horror films at this year’s Hong Kong Filmart (March 17-20), tapping into the growing horror trend in both of these expanding markets.

From Indonesia, the company has picked up international sales rights to Sukma, directed by actor and filmmaker Baim Wong, whose last film as director, horror pic Lembayung, grossed more than $4m in Indonesia last year. Christine Hakim, Luna Maya and Oka Antara head the cast of his new film, about a family haunted by an ancient mirror when they move to a small town. Release is scheduled for the third quarter of this year.

Mockingbird has also picked up two completed titles – Paul Agusta’s supernatural chiller The Butterfly House, produced by Entelekey Media, and Charles Gozali’s The Damnation, produced by Magma Entertainment.

Released in Indonesia in February, The Butterfly House...

Netflix has revealed its slate of original titles from Indonesia and Thailand set to premiere in 2025, including a series from the team behind box office phenomenon How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies.

Thai series Mad Unicorn follows a reformed rural street thug who dives into the express delivery industry to challenge a business mogul who once betrayed him and goes on to become the country’s first “unicorn” startup.

It marks the series directorial debut of Nottapon Boonprakob, who co-wrote Sundance 2021 award-winner One For The Road, and is executive produced by Jira Maligool and Vanridee Pongsittisak – the team behind...

Netflix has revealed its slate of original series and films from Thailand and Indonesia set to premiere throughout 2025, as the streaming service continues to invest in Southeast Asian content at a time when “the competition is pulling back,” according to Minyoung Kim, VP of Netflix Content.

The Thai slate features nine titles, following what Kim describes as “eight groundbreaking local productions that captivated audiences across Thailand and beyond” in 2024. The Thai lineup kicks off with “Dalah: Death and the Flowers” on Feb. 27, a high-society murder mystery starring Urassaya Sperbund. The series, helmed by directors Thanika Jenjesda and Alisa Pien, follows a mysterious floral designer who becomes entangled in the suspicious murder of a prime minister candidate on the eve of his wedding, with executive producer Prabda Yoon overseeing the production.

Genre offerings feature prominently in the Thai slate, including “Ziam,” a zombie action thriller directed by Kulp Kaljareuk, starring Prin Suparat...

Directed by Anggy Umbara, the Indonesian horror film Kromoleo weaves a chilling tale around Zia, a young woman who has spent her entire life far from her ancestral home, Majenang Village. Zia grows up believing she is an illegitimate child, unwelcome in the village. However, after her mother’s passing, she defies her grandfather Danang’s stern warnings and decides to return to Majenang. Her arrival triggers a series of eerie and unsettling events. The villagers react with palpable fear, rushing to barricade themselves in their homes. Their frantic behavior hints at an ominous threat. But why does Zia’s presence inspire such terror? Could it be tied to a dark and ancient curse? Let’s unravel the mystery.

Spoilers Ahead

Kromoleo (2024) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis:

“Kromoleo” opens with a chilling scene of Danang, alongside his men Yanto and Prapto, burying the bodies of numerous thugs. At the beginning,...

Kromoleo is an Indonesian horror thriller directed by Anggy Umbara. At the very beginning of the film, we are informed about the mysterious killings back in the 80s of tattooed thugs, belonging to organized as well as non-organized gangs. The ones who belonged to organized gangs were known as ‘Sugali,’ which comes from the word ‘Gali,’ roughly translated to “wild kids society.” It is believed that some Sugalis were impossible to kill with bullets and sharp weapons, and this warning at the beginning of the film suggested that we would have to come back to this piece of information later in Kromoleo. The film is centered around a young girl, Zia, who returned to her village to attend her mother’s funeral. Her grandfather encouraged her to leave the place at a young age, since the villagers had always looked down upon her. Zia was born out of wedlock, and...

Indonesian director Anggy Umbara clearly belongs to the John Woo school of filmmaking, which means that the only thing better than slow motion is more slow motion. In the rain. He also believes in laying on a good smackdown and does exactly that throughout the trailer for his upcoming futuristic action film 3.Set amidst the conflict between a secular government and religious rebels in a near future world audiences will recognize Donny Alamsyah and Cecep Arif Rahman from the Raid films among the cast but there are a handful of other fighters in there who also appear quite strong. Check out the trailer below....

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Like most - I suspect - outside of Indonesia, I have never had the chance to see the original Indonesian comedy Comic 8. But based on the trailer for Anggy Umbara's upcoming sequel Comic 8: Casino Kings I really, really wish I had. Because this looks to be great, kinetic, hyper-colorful fun with a great big does of action thrown into the mix along with the obvious comedy tone.Gearing up now for a July release this trailer seems less interested in story or characters - no surprise, as they're all well known in Indonesia - than in splashing shots of the big set pieces across the screen. Production values are fantastic and the whole thing just looks to be great fun. Check out the trailer...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...