Echa and Ariel’s household was initially harmonious. However, their life changed to become scary after Echa was disturbed by a genie named Jin Dasim who fell in love with her.

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Introduction

The Devil’s Bride is a very well made Indonesian horror, though not the triple-A blockbuster type, but surpassing those mediocre ones that are coming out recently. Based on the true horror story from the podcast RJL5 which gained significant traction on TikTok with over 11 million views. Directed by Azhar Kinoi Lubis (Kafir: A Deal with the Devil 2018).

The story follows Echa, a woman whose strained marriage leads her to seek solace in dreams where she encounters a handsome man. However, this solace turns to terror when she discovers that the man in her dreams is an incarnation of Jin Dasim, a malicious spirit who seeks to destroy marriages, especially those of women he desires to possess. As Echa and her husband, Ariel, attempt to reconcile, Jin Dasim relentlessly attacks them in both the dream world and reality.

Characters

Echa’s (played by Erika Carlina) performance was phenomenal. I love how her expression changes after her “pleasurable” dreams with the genie, Jin Dasim. Best scene she had in my opinion was her desperate attempt to remove “it”, when she was in the bathroom. Her face showed pure terror and desperation, willing to do what must be done, regardless of the consequence.

Kudos to the other supporting characters, Ariel (played by Emir Mahira), Linda (played by Ruth Marini), Emma (played by Wavi Zihan), Ustad (played by Alfie Alfandi) and Jim Dasim (played by Dwika Pradnyana), his smile was charming at the same time sinister.

Pacing

The length of The Devil’s Bride was a tad too long in my opinion, I mean sure it was only an hour and a half, but for the story that they had and the fact that they already gave away who the antagonist was right from the very beginning, it felt like they sort of looped it up just to prolong it.

Role of religion

The idea of using a “Jinn” or “Djinn” instead of the usual general depiction of a demon/devil was a good decision. It kept me more interested as I wanted to know more who or what kind of Jinn (genie) it was. The exorcism done was shot beautifully as well (though I’m not familiar with their religion/customs, movie-wise it was good).

The scares were better

I honestly got startled with some of the scares that they did. It was surprising yet satisfying at the same time, knowing that Indonesian horror can still pack a punch. Although there were time that they relied too much on the eerie music and abrupt sounds. Also, what I like about Indonesian horror is that they have few comic relief characters, sometimes none, in their horror movies. The Jinn/demon design was great as well.

What I didn’t like

The Devil’s Bride used too much “scary” sounds and music, sometimes it was too loud and doesn’t even lead to anything.

The ending was a bit predictable, to be fair, Indonesian horror likes those kinds of endings, from what I’ve observed, the cliff-hanger type, think-what-you-will kind.

(Spoiler):
When Echa decided to k1ll the thing inside of her using a wire hanger, it was stupid that she had to go down the stairs, limping and bleeding, just to get to the bathroom and do it there. They should’ve done it right then and there. I’m sure they had directorial reasons for it, but it doesn’t make sense.
(End of Spoiler)

Conclusion

The Devil’s Bride is the title to beat this 2025. The scares were effective, though sometimes it gets drowned out by their use of excessive “scary” sounds. A bit long but still a good one-time watch. The story was good and intriguing as well. I’d recommend this over Sorop (2024) any day.