Picture: Twitter @WatchmenID
When I opened the internet, “Sore Idaman” was trending. At
first, I thought people were referring Sore’s character as the dream girl. Turned
out, “idaman” stands for “istri dari masa depan.”
Anyway, Sore: Istri
dari Masa Depan (2025) is the type of film people will bring to the table
of discussions, there’s so much to talk about. Do you think Sore is giving love
rather than obsession? How about the multiverse’s theories? Which one do you
prefer: web series or movie? Does Sore remind you of any other movies? Despite
all the pros and cons, that’s the beautiful experience of watching the same
film: different reactions and interpretations.
The difference between web
series and movie
I get why some people prefer the web series. The argument
is that Sore (web series version) has more personality than Sore (movie
version). It seems like Sore in the movie has no defining trait other than
being Jo’s wife. I mean that’s a whole point of grieving: Sore pours all her
energy and puts her whole attention to the person she lost, her world revolves
around Jo. We’ll see more personality about Sore if this movie tells a different
story. Sore lost her loss of her life, hence why this movie is all about Jo and
focuses its story on him.
If you notice it clearly, Jo (web series version) and Jo
(movie version) are also different characters. In the web series, Jo is more temperamental
but eventually experiences character growth. So, both Sore and Jo in the movie
are alternate versions of themselves compared to the web series.
Sore in the web series is so lovable, she’s such a sunshine
girl. But in the movie... From Sore’s eyes, we can see that she’s already
exhausted, but that doesn’t mean she has less love for Jo. She’s always wearing
a blue dress, maybe because she’s feeling blue.
Some people think Sore in the movie is budak cinta tolol type of woman. Well, the movie doesn’t capture
how deeply in love Jo is. Unlike the web series, which shows Jo’s effort to
never give up on Sore, to prove that their love is worth fighting for. The
movie misses the point of how lovely Jo treats his wife, to the point that she
feels loved, which explains why Sore loves him that much. Sure, Sore has watched
Jo die once, but what about Jo who’s seen Sore die in his arms multiple times?
It would’ve been more interesting if this movie had explored that side.
However, Jo in the movie feels more realistic. Jo in the
web series instantly quits smoking and drinking the moment Sore appears, that’s
nonsense. It’s never easy to fix someone from their addictive habit, especially
if they’re a heavy smoker and an alcoholic. If we desperately fix someone who
doesn’t want to be fixed, I fear it’s obsessive behaviour instead of real love,
I mean love is supposed to be unconditional. In the web series, Sore says
something like, “Kan gak enak, berubah karena takut mati.” In the movie,
there’s a quote that says, “Seseorang berubah bukan karena takut, tapi karena
merasa dicintai.”
The genre of the web series is romcom. The movie is more
complex and tells the emotional sides of both characters. Watching Sore: Istri dari Masa Depan can be
emotionally draining, but imagine how
Sore feels... If I were in an “I can fix him” competition and my opponent was
Sore, I’d lose for sure. I wonder if she listens to “I Can Fix Him (No Really I
Can)” by Taylor Swift and “Savior Complex” by Phoebe Bridgers, I mean it’s so
Sore coded.
The script would be thin pages of a book if only Jo didn’t
have daddy issues. In the web series, Jo asked Sore, “Di hari pernikahan kita, Papa
aku dateng gak? Oh, enggak, ya...” But the web series didn’t tell what the hell
is happening. In the movie, we finally know why.
Seno (Jo’s father) reminds me of John Lennon. Both cheated
with their first wives, then married their second ones. Abandoned their first
kids, but being the best figures of dads to their second ones. If we look at
Jo’s Spotify account, I bet “Hey Jude” by The Beatles is on repeat while “Beautiful
Boy (Darling Boy)” by John Lennon is hidden.
Yeah I feel sorry for him, but Sore has a point though. I
might quote it incorrectly, but she says something like, “Kamu terus-terusan
nyalahin Papa, tapi kamu gak milih diri kamu sendiri!” That sentence hit me.
Sometimes we let ourselves drown in sadness because we don’t love ourselves
enough.
It’s warming how Jo chooses closure with a single note, his
heart is forgiving enough to walk away from a conversation. But that doesn’t
mean Seno is any less of a loser though. He’s such a dick when he’s just
standing there and culang-cileung instead
of chasing after Jo. Maybe it’s unnecessary and it would make the duration
longer, so it’s better to cut it out lol.
Details from the web series
So... I watched the web series years ago, the premise was
the only thing I remembered. After seeing the movie twice in the theaters, I
rewatched the web series. These are my realizations:
1. Same
dialogues
Sore: “Kalo udah suka bilang, ya!”
Jo: “Gak ada yang bisa ngatur-ngatur aku, sekalipun istri
aku sendiri!”
2. Similar
scenes
Elsa splashes out her drink at Jo, Sore waits for Jo till
the morning outside, Jo has breakfast with Sore at the restaurant, and Karlo’s
activity is doing casting.
3. Almost
having sex scene
They’re so close to have sex, but decide not to do it
anyway. This is why Sore loves Jo, it’s love over lust, their love is built on
emotional bond rather than physical desire.
4. Jo’s
feeling
Someone on Twitter joked, “The movie title is Sore: Istri dari Masa Depan, not Jonathan:
Suami yang di Situ-Situ Aja” [insert skull head’s emoji] because the plot
is repeated. In the web series, Jo grows in love in a slow burn way.
I think, in the movie, Jo and Sore’s path is not in the
past. No matter how many times the past is repeated, their paths never cross
there. Once they meet in the future, they’re together. It’s because their destinies
align in the future, not in the past.
5. Karlo
Karlo immediately believes Sore is from the future because
she knows his deepest secret. Karlo doesn’t believe in Sore for a while because
of Elsa’s influence, but he believes Sore again because her advice for him
actually works.
When Karlo and Elsa say don’t believe Sore, Jo comes back
to see the sunset with Sore instead of running away. Maybe Jo does that because
he falls in love with her.
6. Jobs
In the web series, the one who does an art exhibition is
Karlo, not Jo. Jo is doing some work from home stuff and he’s a night owl who
often stays up late. When he returns to Jakarta, he works as a photographer and
Sore works as a fashion designer, they work in the same place.
Details from the movie
Here are my interpretations:
1. Croatian
language
Jo asks, “Berapa lama kamu belajar bahasa Kroasia? Kok
lancar banget?” and Sore answers, “Berapa lama, ya? Seratus tahun ada kali.” She’s
not joking, she’s being serious! Sore goes through the time loop many times.
She’s in Croatia again and again, she even practices how to speak Croatian so
she can talk with the locals. Learning a new language takes a long time, right?
Besides learning the language of the country where Jo
lives, Sore memorizes his activities chronologically from carelessly bumping
into a man carrying tomatoes, meeting Elsa, exercising, going to Seno’s
house... Alongside “Pancarona” by Barasuara, this scene tells how often Sore is
trapped in a time loop.
2. Sore’s
braided hair
There’s one scene that’s not repetitive: when Sore decides
to ask herself, “What if I choose to walk away?” and she does. She becomes a
fashion designer at Marco’s boutique. Time passes... Sore braids her hair. As her
hair grows longer, it becomes a visual marker of how long she distracts herself
from heartbreak.
3. Aurora
sky
When Jo sees the aurora, tears are falling from the sky. In
my opinion, they are Sore’s tears. Jo and Sore are staring at the same sky,
both see the aurora from different dimensions. Jo is in the Arctic in his
timeline, when he’s in the process of trying to be a better person. In another
dimension, Sore is in the Arctic on her own, she’s mourning over her death husband,
and wants him to be a better man.
Previously, Sore read Jo’s notebook, he wrote that there’s
no time zone in the Arctic. She assumed this means she can freely travel back
to the past, knowing there’s no time zone in the Arctic. It’s a red aurora,
which is the rarest one. Ancient belief says that red aurora can take us to the
past. I forgot if Jo ever wrote about his daddy issues in his notebook because
if he did, Sore might’ve read it and had the urge to fix his childhood trauma.
Movies and songs that remind
me of Sore
Sore: Istri dari Masa
Depan is nothing like Past Lives (2023). But the in-yun
concept from Past Lives connects
so much with Jo and Sore’s shared memories, especially in the ending when they
shake hands.
The misinterpretation of Sore’s character reminds me of the
misinterpretation of Summer from (500)
Days of Summer (2009). People think Sore is stupid for love, as if woman
always has to be the one who’s patient and giving in in the relationship. Yes,
this movie tends to tell its story from Sore’s point of view, but if you pay
more attention to it, you’ll see that Jo is actually in love with her too. They
love each other, even in every universe. Shit! This movie is so good, I almost fall
for the propaganda—I almost believe in love again.
Like Sore, Summer from (500)
Days of Summer is also often misread. Many see Summer as an asshole, even portray
her as a villain. In my opinion, both Tom and Summer are anti-heroes. Tom is obsessed
with her in an unhealthy way, but Summer isn’t firm in setting boundaries. The blame
falls on Summer because the movie is told from Tom’s perspective.
The similarity between movies like Sore: Istri dari Masa Depan and
(500) Days of Summer is that if we understand both the main characters’
perspectives, it’ll help us to understand human complexity. We can learn from this
type of fiction that human is THAT difficult to understand. I mean
understanding is the whole point of empathy, right?
Sore: Istri dari Masa
Depan reminds me a lot of that one Japanese movie—
“Bang, lari, Bang! Ada meteor! Bang? Mada kono sekai wa~ anjir wibu”—yup, Kimi no Na wa (2016). My biggest fear is being forgotten. What if I love someone—like, really love—but
they forget my name or even my existence?
When it comes to music, this is some type of “About You” by
The 1975 shit. You will get it if you think of a specific person every time you
listen to that song and you’re longing while romanticizing the memory. You will
get it if you watch this type of movie wholeheartedly. By the way, I’d like to
see Jo and Sore fan edit with the outro of “party 4 u” by Charli xcx, please!
The last time a movie left a beautiful mark on my heart
right after watching it was Everything
Everywhere All at Once (2022). I even cried over that movie, but I didn’t
cry when I rewatched it. Same goes with Sore:
Istri dari Masa Depan—I wish I had the experience of watching this movie
for the first time again. The tricky thing with movies like this is that the
second time watching never hits as hard as the first.
To this day, Everything
Everywhere All at Once still holds the best movie about multiverse—even
better than Marvel. I mean it’s literally an Oscar-winning movie. I think Sore: Istri dari Masa Depan could be a
strong contender for the next Piala Citra.
Jo’s art exhibition
Why do they meet here instead of at Kak Cindy’s wedding?
There’s a fan theory that says Kak Cindy’s wedding is her event. Art exhibition
is Jo’s event, hence why it feels more personal and meaningful. In one
dimension, they meet at Kak Cindy’s wedding. In other dimension, they meet on
Jo’s bed. In another dimension, they meet at the art exhibition. If they had met
at Kak Cindy’s wedding, Jo would still have died of a heart attack, so it would
be no use if Sore tried to fix the unfixable path.
Previously, Jo is longing for something, though he isn’t sure
what it is precisely. It’s because, somewhere deep in his bones, he senses memories
with Sore, but he forgets them. When his intuition leads him to approach her,
he finally knows what he’s been longing for. All the memories from previous
dimensions appear in a glimpse, become a flashback. Or maybe sometimes we just
miss someone so much, to the point that we still miss them deeply, even if we can’t
recall a single detail about them. Anyway, Sore’s outfit in this scene looks so
nostalgic, identical to what she wore on the web series’s final episode.
Is Sore really from the
future?
Bold of you assume Sore is literally from the future when
she’s a grieving wife mourning her husband’s death. She wonders, what if she
comes back in time and tries to change him? There’s a fan theory that says
Sore’s scene in the Arctic symbolizes her grief. She lives in the past, she’s
the woman who can’t be moved. The time machine is a metaphor for her willingness
to do anything to repeat the time, to fix Jo’s bad habit, and heal his trauma.
Sore already lived in the future when Jo died. She’s not coming from the
future, she’s trying to save it. Sore’s grief is understandable because she believes
she has the chance to rewrite the stars.
Sore dare enough to says, “Jangan biarin aku ditelan
waktu.” to Jo, but Waktu is mad at Sore. If Waktu could talk, they would say,
“No, you can’t play with me.” Hence why she runs out of time, unable to cross
the limit. Also, the red aurora’s duration is about to fade away.
Love... What is love anyway?
Sore told Jo, “Aku pengen deh pacaran sekali seumur hidup.”
First experience and first love? It’s hard to forget, dude. Yes, Sore wants Jo
to be better, but she loves him for who he is, not for some idealized version
of him in her head. She loves him unconditionally—there’s no condition such as
Jo has to do this or that, to get Sore’s love. Even if Sore meets the worst
version of Jo, she still loves him. Sore’s feeling for Jo is full of love,
hatred couldn’t even compete. Sore is always by his side to inform Jo that he
is loved by her. Jo changes for the better because it’s no one's decision to
make but himself.
When Sore said, “Aku Sore, istri kamu selamanya.” She was
in her final act of love: acceptance. She stopped not because she gave up, but
because she finally realized that the most loving thing she could do was let go.
By choosing to accept the timing, she opened the door to a beautiful path from
an unexpected dimension. In Sore’s dimension, there’s no way she’s together
with Jo. But in another dimension, it’s possible. Why? Because the power of
love conquers all [oh my God. I’ll insert crying emoji]
But if we’re being honest, it’s creepy if a stranger woke up
in our bed, knew our details, and claimed they were from the future... Is it
illogical? Yes, that’s the point! Love is never logical.
I’m influenced by Cania Citta, she likes to talk about
rationality. She argues that what we consider rational may not be rational for
others. Some people complain, “If I were Sore, I would’ve given up. Focused on
my career or found another man.” Yeah, that’s what rational according to YOU. But
what if Sore’s criteria in marrying a husband is having somebody to love? What
if she wants his love to fulfill her emotional and psychological needs? What if
she chooses this life because she’s aware that love is more than just a
feeling, but it’s also a choice?
By the way, if you look closely at Jo’s alarm, he always
wakes up at 08:25. There’s a fan theory that says this references a Bible verse
about hope and waiting for a miracle. But director Yandy Laurens himself
confirmed it’s actually his wedding anniversary with his wife, August 25th. So,
this film is basically his love letter to the love of his life... Oh, to be
loved like that!
My rating
Several scenes make me go like, “Why does it have to be
this dramatic?” but that’s how movies are. “Terbuang Dalam Waktu” by Barasuara
perfectly captures that one cinematic scene. This movie’s visual is clearer than
my eyesight! [Insert Martin Scorsese’s “absolute cinema” meme]
Sheila Dara told Raditya Dika on his podcast that no one
expected that scene to be this good. Not even her as Sore’s actress, not even the
crew. The editor Hendra Adhi Susanto deserves a standing ovation, he understood
his assignment.
I give Sore: Istri
dari Masa Depan a 7.8/10 rating. For me, Jatuh Cinta Seperti di Film-Film (2023) is Yandy Laurens’ best work
to date. I give
that movie an 8/10 rating, it’s an eight because he ate. I’ve watched his whole
filmography, it’s awesome that Yandy Laurens’ art is idealist AND accepted by
the mainstream.
My telmi ass doesn’t
understand multiverse’s theories better than most people. I’m aware this shit
would be more fire if only I understood those things. I’m also not watching
more podcasts nor reading more reviews about this film because I knew it would
run its algorithm and I don’t want my phone to spend more screen time.
Maybe my interpretation of love isn’t as deep as yours. I
just love to yap the hell out of it. With all the knowledge I know, here’s my
long-ass so-called analysis written about a film we’re currently obsessed with,
Sore: Istri dari Masa Depan.
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