This research examines the intervention of the "Female Gaze" within the contemporary Indonesian horror cinema, focusing on the shift from women as objects of patriarchal terror to subjects of cinematic agency. Historically, Indonesian horror has relied on the "Monstrous-Feminine" to project male anxieties regarding female biology and domesticity (Mulvey,1975; Prasetyo et al., 2025). However, a new wave of female directors is reclaiming these tropes to offer a nuanced, and subjective perspective on female trauma and empowerment. Through a qualitative thematic analysis of three pivotal films of the recent past—Ginanti Rona’s Qorin (2022), Hadrah Daeng Ratu’s Sijjin (2023), and Upi’s Sorop (2024)—this study examines how local myths are reshaped by female authorship. The researcher employs a textual analysis methodology to decode the visual elements – framing, composition, light and sound, and haptic cinematography. Moreover, narrative analysis has been used to explore the perspective shift from the horror of the monster to the source and the repressed cause. Drawing on Barbara Creed’s (1993) theory of the monstrous-feminine and Laura Mulvey’s (1975) conceptualization of the gaze, the research evaluates the extent of female intervention in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Preliminary observations suggest that female directors have gone beyond jump scares and objectification to question social trauma, institutional and domestic abuse through horror. Their focus on female subjectivity and inter-female relationships in their films transforms the monster from a source of external fear into a medium for social subversion.

Authors:
Annapurna Sinha, Binus University International, Indonesia

---

Conference Comments & Feedback

Place a comment using your LinkedIn profile

[wplinkpress_comments]

Share this Presentation

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

Last updated: 2023-02-23 23:45:00

All Posts