Watching a horror movie that starts in a normal marriage is a little creepy. The kitchen looks like it has been used. There is soft light in the bedroom. A husband goes to work. And then, slowly, something you can’t see starts to pull at the edges of everyday life. The Devil’s Bride is a movie that feels less like a haunted house story and more like a haunted relationship.
Directed by Azhar Kinoi Lubis, the movie is about Echa, played by Erika Carlina, a wife whose calm home starts to fall apart when a djinn named Jin Dasim goes after her. The idea of an otherworldly being falling in love with a married woman sounds like something out of an opera, but the first few scenes are surprisingly real. The house doesn’t have a gothic feel to it. It seems real. Ceiling fans that are slowly turning. A child’s voice coming from another room. Before the possession starts, it’s hard not to notice how normal everything looks.
The movie’s best weapon is how ordinary it is.
Carlina’s performance is very emotional. She doesn’t make the fear worse. Instead, she lets it simmer, letting her eyes linger too long on empty corners and her breath get tight in the middle of a conversation. There’s a scene with a clothes hanger that sounds almost silly when you read about it, but it’s really uncomfortable to watch. It’s not the blood and guts that bother me; it’s the invasion of privacy. You should feel safe in your bedroom. In this movie, they don’t.
But even with all of its good points, The Devil’s Bride is a frustrating movie to watch.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Original Title | Pengantin Setan |
| Release Date | January 16, 2025 (Indonesia) |
| Director | Azhar Kinoi Lubis |
| Production Company | MVP Pictures |
| Runtime | 1h 31m |
| Language | Indonesian |
| Lead Cast | Erika Carlina, Emir Mahira |
| Genre | Supernatural Horror |
| Worldwide Gross | $260,782 |
| IMDb Page | View on IMDb |
| Production Info | MVP Pictures Official Site |
The demon design is interesting at first because of its long features and creepy movements, but the movie shows it too much. Historically, horror works best when it is limited. Remember how The Exorcist made you feel scared before showing you the worst? In this scene, the djinn is almost too visible, stepping into the frame over and over until the shock wears off. The filmmakers may have thought that making things more visible would make people more scared. Instead, it can make the thing feel more like a play than scary.
The sound design doesn’t help. The music gets louder and louder, sometimes drowning out quiet parts that could have stood on their own. A lot of people who watched the movie said that the soundtrack feels forced and is even used in places where silence would have worked better. When you’re in a dark theater, the volume gets almost aggressive. The tension is real, but it’s being forced instead of letting it grow.
Still, something culturally unique is going on here. Over the past ten years, Indonesian horror has used a lot of religious imagery and folklore. Movies like Satan’s Slaves showed that myths from one place can have an impact on people all over the world. The Devil’s Bride follows that path by using Muslim exorcism rituals and spiritual beliefs in its story. The exorcism scenes are some of the most interesting parts of the movie. They are ritualistic, rhythmic, and full of energy from the group.
As those scenes play out, it seems like the movie understands fear as something that happens in groups, not just in your head. The horror doesn’t stay in Echa; it spreads out and pulls in family and religious figures. That broadening of the scope makes things more serious.
But then the story gets uneven.
Ariel’s husband, played by Emir Mahira, feels out of place. He goes away for long periods of time, leaving Echa alone in more and more danger without giving her a good reason. It is still not clear if this was a deliberate comment on the lack of emotional connection in marriage or just a mistake in the structure. In either case, it makes the domestic tension that the movie sets up so carefully at the beginning less strong.
The climax is shocking, with one scene in particular being very bold, but the ending feels rushed. Horror stories with religious themes often have clear morals, and in this case, the ending makes conflicts that had been messy and personal seem easier to understand. The ending is a little too neat after all the buildup.
But still.
Some people say that The Devil’s Bride works because it feels like it isn’t perfect. It swings a lot. It leans toward melodrama. It sometimes trips up. Indonesian horror in 2025 looks like it wants to try new things by combining folklore, viral podcasts, and the speed of streaming. This movie is said to be based on a true story that became popular on TikTok, which adds to the anxiety of the present. People used to tell folklore in whispers. Now it’s on demand.
That might be why the movie seems a little crazy. It balances tradition and modernity, closeness and show.
In the end, The Devil’s Bride is neither a great book nor a bad one. There are flaws in the movie, but the acting is great and the set pieces are memorable. It makes you uneasy, even when it goes too far. It makes you angry, even when it works.
