Komang (2025) Review: Held Together by Fate

• Director: Naya Anindita
• Screenplay: Evelyn Afnilia
• Starring: Aurora Ribero, Kiesha Alvaro, Ayu Laksmi, Adzando Davema, Arie Kriting, Mathias Muchus, Cut Mini Theo
• Editing: Hendra Adhi Susanto

Synopsis:
Set against the serene backdrop of Buton, Indonesia, Komang tells the story of a young couple: Laode, a Muslim man with dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian and singer in Jakarta, and Komang Ade, a Hindu woman with deep roots in her community. Their love is tested by long-distance ambitions and the weight of cultural expectations, especially when Ade’s mother, Meme, arranges a marriage with someone else.

Verdict:
This one crept up on me. At first, Komang moves at a slow pace, like it’s just another star-crossed love story. But once it hits the third act—boom. All the quiet tensions simmering below the surface explode into raw emotion. Prepare tissues. Lots of them.

Story & Themes:
Komang is more than a romance, it’s a heartfelt exploration of family, tradition, and the kind of love that’s rarely easy. While Laode and Ade’s chemistry carries the emotional weight of the story, it’s the resistance from Ade’s family, especially her mother, Meme, that becomes the emotional core.

Meme isn’t just a stereotypical disapproving parent. She’s layered, carrying the fear of her heritage fading away. Her line “If I die later, who will pray for me? Your sister also already become Muslim and rarely comes home” sticks long after the movie ends. It’s painful, relatable, and honest.

The film also leans heavily into the idea of fate. Meme keeps insisting that they “can’t go against fate,” but the question lingers: Whose fate? The one shaped by human traditions? Or something bigger, something cosmic that keeps bringing two souls back together, no matter how hard the world tries to pull them apart?

It left me thinking long after the credits rolled. In this modern world where tradition often gets sidelined, Komang reminds us that these roots still run deep and that love isn’t always enough to untangle them.

Favorite Character:
Arya, hands down. The guy who’s been in love with Ade long before Laode came into the picture. He knows he doesn’t stand a chance. Still, he tells her, “Let me be the remedy to your heartache.” That’s love in its purest, most selfless form.

Being loved is easy. Loving someone who may never love you back? That’s a different kind of courage. Arya gets it.

Lessons Learned:

• What’s meant for you will always find its way back.
• Religion and tradition may not define love, but they do shape it.
• Sometimes, fate isn’t what we imagine—it’s what we keep returning to, again and again.

Komang isn’t a loud film. It whispers, it holds your hand, and then, just when you think you’ve figured it out—it gently breaks your heart.