Promised Hearts is a 2025 Indonesian Islamic romantic drama that premiered on Netflix on 31st March 2025. The original title for the movie is Setetes Embun Cinta Niyala. It was originally filmed in Indonesian and was dubbed into English for a wider audience.
Oka Aurora, who wrote the script, adapted the movie from Habiburrahman El Shirazy’s novel. The movie is produced by Manoj Punjabi and directed by Anggy Umbara. It has a running time of 1 hour and 54 minutes. It is rated PG-13 and is not suitable for viewers younger than the age of 13.
The Premise of Promised Hearts
A young woman, Niyala’s future is compromised by a secret agreement between her father and a man named Cosmas. Niyala’s dad borrowed some money from Cosmas in order to pay medical bills for her sick mother. Her mother eventually died, leaving them with these debts.
Niyala went through the ups and downs and emerged as a medical doctor and was ready to advance her career before her father and brother told her she had to marry the son of Cosmas (Roger) unless her father will go to jail.
At the same time, she also had to accept that Faiq, the man she had loved since childhood, already found someone to marry. This throws her life into disarray, but it may be the only way to rescue her family.
The movie touches on themes of love, faith, patience, and perseverance, and all these themes are beautifully intertwined.
Cast and Performance
Beby Tsabina as Niyala:
Niyala is the protagonist; She is bright and hard-working. She fought her way through medical school and became one of the female doctors in her village. Niyala is independent but very loyal to her family, which puts her in a tight spot. She is forced to choose between love and duty. Her performance was exceptional and nicely executed.
Deva Mahenra as Faiq:
He is Niyala’s best friend and confidant. Faiq is kind, patient, and very supportive of Niyala, but he had a hard time differentiating between platonic and romantic love. Their relationship is beautiful and very evident; he plays the role with subtlety, making him likeable and yet frustrating because he chose to be blind to what his heart was saying.
Alya Rohali as Ambar:
She plays Faiq’s mother; Faiq and Niyala call her Ummi. When Ummi and Faiq were moving to Jakarta, Niyala followed them in order for her to go to school.
She takes Niyala in and treats her like her own daughter. She never allowed Niyala to feel the absence of her mother. Alya really played the role of a good mother, being there for her children through thick and thin, offering advice and lending a helping hand.
Catilin Halderman as Diah:
She plays the role of Faiq’s fiancée, whom he didn’t realise he didn’t really love. Catilin was great on screen; she portrayed perseverance even when she knew Faiq wasn’t in love with her and believed all would work out in due time. Her performance was satisfactory.
Kiki Narendra as Cosmas:
He played the role of a rich businessman who is owed huge money by Niyala’s father. He is callous, heartless, and deceitful; he destroyed the boat Niyala’s father was supposed to use to pay his debt in order for him to get his son to marry Niyala, which will improve Roger’s chances of winning the election and becoming the village leader.
Dito Darmawan as Roger:
He is the son of Cosmas, the wealthy businessman, who is supposed to marry Niyala; Roger was Niyala’s childhood bully. He pretended to have changed and genuinely loved her, and she fell for it, but truly, a leopard can never change its skin.
What I liked about Promised Hearts
Beautiful Cinematography
Great picture quality! The movie makes use of natural landscapes and traditional settings excellently, adding virtual richness and enhancing the emotional weight of the movie.
Predictable Plot
The movie presents predictable plots in a whole new refreshing way and is absolutely engaging.
Long-Lasting Childhood Friendships and Family Values
The wonderful friendship between Niyala and Fiaq extending from childhood to adulthood is something we all look for, but only a few are fortunate enough to get. I also really liked the sense of responsibility which Niyala showed once she knew she could help her family out of their debt. She never hesitated, even when it affected her career.
Ending Twist
The twist at the end, though ridiculous, brings a refreshing sight to the movie, something different and not usually seen in most movies in the romantic genre.
Lessons Learnt
The movie teaches you not to step on people in order to stay on top. It also shows that people don’t change; rather, they learn to hide it well over the years. It also shows that you might be staring at love all along and not know it; always look for love amongst friends.
Another lesson from the movie is that if something isn’t meant to be, it won’t be; the marriage between Faiq and Diah is an example of this.
I learned that under Islamic law, a man and a woman that have received breastfeeding milk from the same woman can’t marry because they are milk siblings, and milk siblings are just like blood siblings. Also, a hadith (saying or action of the Prophet Muhammad) states that a woman’s silence in the context of marriage implies her consent, but this is often debated and interpreted differently by scholars.
What Didn’t Work
Plot Holes and Inadequacies
Scenes like the one where Niyala was talking about how dengue fever presents are inadequate; sores in the gums and nosebleeds make the presentation of dengue fever very limited to these two, which are vast symptoms associated with it.
She gave the child no sort of first aid before calling for a means of transportation to the hospital. She didn’t protect herself or the parents when she suspected the case of dengue, which is a viral hemorrhagic fever. The very rapid rate of recovery for a case of dengue fever was also wrongly depicted; the recovery is supposed to be gradual and painful.
Poor Character Development
The characters’ lives are poorly developed; Faiq studied something in Cairo, it was never mentioned, and Diah is an expert in Islamic culture. And yet, these characters never talk about their education or profession.
Pacing Issues
Some scenes drag on for too long, making the film feel slower than necessary. The action scenes are terrible and should have been cut off.
Final Thoughts
Promised Hearts is a movie about love, faith and patience. If you enjoy slow-burn romance films with cultural and emotional aspects, this will be worth a watch. The movie followed the predictable pathway, but in a whole new refreshing way.
Rating:
I would rate this movie a 4.5 out of 5 stars
Have you seen Promised Hearts? How do you see the childhood friendship that eventually developed into a romantic relationship?
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