Sabrina Rochelle’s Home Sweet Loan comes at a time when much of the Indonesian population spends a great deal of effort trying to secure livable housing. The reports on the Internet paint a dismal picture of Indonesia, where there are still large numbers who are without their own land or house. Mirroring this concern, the central protagonist of this 2024 film is only interested in buying her own house, peculiarly not an apartment or flat. The government introduced its instrument, TAPERA, or the Public Housing Savings Management Agency, in tackling the somewhat incongruous spike in price rise and income stagnation. Towards the beginning of Home Sweet Loan, the tone is set when the diegetic TV news presents us with the mention of TAPERA.
Spoilers Ahead
Why is Kaluna planning to buy her own house?
Kaluna, a young corporate worker and part-time model, dreams of buying her own house in Indonesia. To this end, she has been saving consistently and visits prospective properties with her friends regularly. One of the primary reasons why Kaluna desperately wants a home for herself is the state of her father’s house, which is bursting at the seams. With her elder siblings and their partners and children living under the same roof, Kal has no choice but to compromise on her personal liberty and space. A miscommunication between Kal’s mother and Kal causes the latter to give up her room in the main house for the children of the house. She is forced to move to the back of the house and use the housekeeper’s room for her own use. Kai is frustrated by her overly dependent siblings and their partners who, although old enough to get married, put no effort into buying their own house or apartment.
Kal’s longtime boyfriend, Hansa, invites her over for his mother’s birthday party. The ritzy mother disapproves of Kai and her social class. She makes offhand comments about Kaluna’s choice of clothes and her old car. When Kaluna reveals to her that she plans to co-own a house with Hansa, Hansa’s mother is surprised to learn of the plan and makes it very clear that she will not allow to move out of the house. Hansa too does not seem to be considerate of Kal’s aspirations and condescendingly points out the faults in her way of living. Kal realizes that Hansa will never understand her and leaves him. Back at home, she is not even spared a moment to grieve her relationship, as the kids constantly annoy her. Shortly after, Hansa finds a new partner who is instantly approved of by his mother.
Will her dream of buying a house be realized?
One day, Kaluna gets to know from her friends that her company has started financing home loans for their salaried employees. Although the prerequisites of the down payment require a salary cut, as part of the TAPERA program, Kal eagerly applies for the loan. That night, Kal’s sister-in-law, Natya, presents her with an offer. She tells Kal that Nendra, Kal’s brother, is soon going to buy land in Jagakarsa. Since Kal is no longer with Hansa, Natya advises Kal to spend her savings on her dream house and split the cost with the couple. On the pretext of being a benign relative helping her sister-in-law to move closer to her dreams, Nendra’s wife is actually looking to get Kal to pay for their land. When she has no clear answer to when she is going to pay back Kal, Kal maintains that she will not let her hard-earned money slip out of her hands just like that. Kal’s headstrong proclamation does not go down well with Nendra and Natya, and they grow hostile towards her.
On the other hand, Kal’s home-hunting increasingly turns futile as each property comes with its own set of curveballs—from infestation by crawling serpents to a graveyard being visible from the window, and lastly the tale of a man who was found mutilated in the house that Kal was on the verge of closing on. That night, a quarreling cat falls through the roof of Kal’s room, and, yet again, she has no place to relocate to. Kal’s father makes her space in the living room, partitioning one portion with the help of clothes as curtains. Kal is surprised to find out from Natya that the two have already bought the land. Her father confirms that the loan was provided to Nendra from his company.
On her daily commute, she notices one of the passengers watching an Instagram reel of a housing company called Sva Casa. The minimalist style of the houses, named ‘Sawangan,’ seems appealing to Kaluna. She takes her best friends–Danan, Tanish, and Miya– to take a tour of the property. The ‘Sawangan’ property is instantly appreciated by Kal and her friends. The next morning, Kal submits her application for the home loan at the office. The friends celebrate Kal’s milestone achievement together.
How does Kal’s dream get shattered again?
When Kal returns home, she is welcomed by a tense atmosphere. Kal’s elder sister, Kamala, informs us that the home certificate that Nendra bought is a double, meaning that someone possesses the exact same land certificate as Nendra. Nendra confesses that when he submitted his certificate to the office for a loan, he found out about the existence of a double. This confuses Kal, who, all this while, knew that Nendra had already been sanctioned with a loan from his office. Nendra finally lets the cat out of the bag and confesses to having borrowed their father’s pension savings and taken unverified online loans.
A noisy altercation breaks out in the house when Kamala rebukes Natya for their foolishness. The patriarch of the house, Kal’s father, tries to induce some good sense when he further berates both Nendra and Kamala, along with their partners, for their imprudent decision-making. His savings, which he gave away to Nendra, were originally meant for Kaluna’s marriage. Knowing full well that Kal is the only one with a huge savings of 33 million rupiahs, Nendra falls to her feet and begs her to pay off his debts. Furthermore, Nendra says that defaulting will cause them to lose their ancestral house as he used it as a collateral for the loan. Kal’s mother breaks down under pressure, as she was the one who gave the house certificate to her son.
Kal’s face is swept over by an expression of dejection. She accuses her siblings and their partners of being freeloaders who are just leeching off of the hard work of Kal and her parents. Kaluna immediately moves out of the house in anger and crashes at Danan’s apartment. Soon, Kaluna’s home ownership credit is approved, and Kal is on her way to buy her ‘Sawangan.’ However, just when she is about to finalize the deal, she gets emotional and takes a pause. She urges her father to secure their house certificate, using her savings. Despite her father’s protestations, she prioritizes regaining their ancestral house over her dream house. Kal transfers all her savings to her father’s account. Kamala informs Kal that their father is considering selling their house as he believes the family has been unfair to her. The elder sister expresses her plans to move away with her husband, while Nendra too plans to settle with Natya’s parents for the time being. On the other hand, despite getting her savings back, the house she had been eyeing gets sold.
In Home Sweet Loan’s ending, the family moves out of the old house and puts it up for sale. Despite that, Kal keeps the flames of her dream of buying a house alive.
Will Kaluna ever revive her dream?
It seems Kaluna is headstrong about achieving her dreams. Recognizing her corporate company’s limited financial growth opportunities, Kaluna resigns from her job. However, even if this decision seems drastic, Kaluna knows that staying employed here would never help save up the money required to buy the house.
After resigning from the company, Kaluna, who had always received heaps of praises for her cooking skills, launches her cloud kitchen with her mother. Home Sweet Loan hints at a possible marital union between Kaluna and Danan. In between the narrative of the family drama and Kal’s house-hunting journey, the film tucks a brief story carefully, at the cost of making it seem almost irrelevant. However, the story mirrors brilliantly the thematic concern of the film. Towards the beginning, Kal’s niece is upset to lose her pet snail as we see her crying and complaining to the mother. While cleaning around the house, Kal finds the shell of the snail, but not the live creature. Later, when she moves out of their ancestral house with her parents, the snail is seen crawling around the empty house, its natural shell or abode replaced by a plastic cap. This image may seem insignificant but captures perfectly the feelings of isolation that germinates from not having a home or a traceable root. For Kal, the selling of the old home was not part of an option. When she has to sacrifice her roots and move on to find a new footing, she is caught off guard and resembles the snail’s peril.