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Jalan Pulang

Name: Jalan Pulang
Director: Jeropoint
Released: 2025
Duration: 97 min

Representation Score

5.5/10

Fair

2025

Director

Jeropoint

Runtime

97 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Jalan Pulang succeeds in providing a culturally specific horror experience by grounding its terror in Javanese spiritualism and local folklore. By centering the plot on a mother's journey to save her daughter, the film empowers female leadership within a genre that often sidelines women. However, the film adheres to traditional, straight-centered family structures and lacks representation for LGBTQ+ identities or characters with disabilities. Ultimately, the film’s strength lies in its localized worldview and its portrayal of women navigating a high-stakes spiritual crisis.

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Category Breakdown

Does Jalan Pulang have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film focuses on a traditional family structure and maternal protection. There are no representations of non-binary gender identities or same-sex relationships.

How does Jalan Pulang portray gender?

Good

The movie emphasizes female leadership, with Lastini and her daughter playing key roles. Women are the main decision-makers and leaders in this survival thriller.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Jalan Pulang?

Good

The film presents a journey across Java, offering a non-Western perspective. It highlights local spiritualism and indigenous folklore rather than Anglo-Saxon horror traditions.

How does Jalan Pulang represent religion and culture?

Fair

The story delves into local mysticism and spiritual healers. While rooted in traditional family values, it avoids purely Western approaches to supernatural themes.

Does Jalan Pulang include disability representation?

Minimal

The current narrative does not include characters dealing with physical, neurodivergent, or mental health disabilities.

Present on Screen

Empowers female leadership and decision-making.
Uses Javanese spiritualism and folklore to create a unique horror experience.
Avoids typical Anglo-Saxon horror conventions.

Limited or Absent

Does not represent LGBTQ+ identities or non-binary gender expressions.
Lacks characters dealing with physical, neurodivergent, or mental health disabilities.
Depends on traditional, straight-centered family structures.

Official Synopsis

After her husband's mysterious death, Lastini believes a dark entity is possessing her daughter, Arum. With only five days before Arum's leap-year birthday, Lastini and her two other children journey across Java to seek help from spiritual healers. As the demon's grip tightens, they race against time to save Arum and find their way back home.

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