Fighting the Negative Stigma of Nursing Homes in the Film Agak Laen: Menyala Pantiku!

JAKARTA - The adventures of the quartet of Bene Dion, Boris Bokir, Oki Rengga, and Indra Jegel enter a new phase in their second film, Agak Laen: Menyala Pantiku! In this film, a little is told about the lives of the elderly (elderly) in nursing homes.

His first film, Agak Laen, managed to attract 9,126,607 viewers, placing it in third place in the list of the highest-grossing Indonesian films of all time, behind Jumbodan and KKN di Desa Penari.

The success continued in the second film, Agak Laen: Menyala Pantiku! which has attracted more than eight million viewers in less than a month since its premiere on November 27, 2025.

The 119-minute film tells the story of four police whose careers are threatened after failing to uncover the murder of the mayor's son. They are then given one last chance, namely to carry out a disguised operation and infiltrate a nursing home to find the killer.

What is interesting is how the writer of the story, Muhadkly Acho, raised the lives of the elderly in nursing homes. For most people in Indonesia, entrusting parents in nursing homes can be seen negatively.

In fact, according to sociologist and Professor of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Diponegoro University (Undip) Prof. Ari Pradanawati, a nursing home or nursing home does not necessarily mean as a place to dispose of parents.

In one of the scenes in the film Agak Laen: Menyala Pantiku! Boris and Oki, who are disguised as elderly couples, register to stay at Wisma Kasih, because they don't want to bother their neighbors after their child dies.

The film tells the story of the lives of the elderly in a nursing home. There, the elderly can interact with each other and receive proper care.

Hearing the word nursing home is still a taboo in Indonesia. Nursing homes have negative meanings, because they are considered as a place to 'abandon' parents.

Caring for the elderly, especially those who are elderly, is always a hot topic that triggers debate among the community. One of the options considered by the family is to place the elderly in a nursing home.

As depicted in the film Agak Laen: Menyala Pantiku!, nursing homes offer a variety of services designed to support the well-being of the elderly.

But in that case, it still saves various controversies if entrusting parents in a nursing home is the best choice, especially if the elderly still have children.

In 2024, Tri Rismaharini, who was then serving as Minister of Social Affairs, issued a controversial statement regarding the concept of nursing homes. According to Risma, nursing homes are not suitable for Indonesian culture.

The PDI Perjuangan politician is worried that nursing homes will become an excuse for children to refuse to care for the elderly in the family. He also encourages families to care for the elderly, instead of entrusting them to nursing homes.

"That's a culture from abroad. Actually, according to me, yes, it's not appropriate. It's not in line with the culture, right," he said, during the National Elderly Day (HLUN) commemoration in North Aceh, May 29, 2024.

It turns out that according to a survey conducted by the research institution Jakpat, Risma's view that is against the existence of nursing homes is in line with Generation Z.

From a survey of 1,499 respondents aged 16-27, as many as 48.63 respondents disagreed with the view of sending parents to nursing homes. In fact, there are 35.76 percent of others who answered "strongly disagree".

This survey was conducted on June 7-8, 2024. Most respondents were from the 20-25 year group (59.79 percent), followed by the 26-27 year group (20.37 percent) and the 16-19 year group (19.77 percent).

About a third of respondents who chose not to agree with sending the elderly to nursing homes, admitted to being worried about social stigma. They feel there is still a negative view in society that considers children unfilial if they place their parents in nursing homes.

Professor Ari Pradanawati said that opinions that are contrary to entrusting parents in nursing homes tend to refer more to the culture in Indonesia.

In Indonesia, the assumption that parents must be cared for by children is still very thick. According to Prof. Ari, public views on the word nursing home are still tend to be negative. In fact, nursing homes are not necessarily a 'dumping ground' for parents.

"In our minds, if we hear the word nursing home or nursing home, we seem to think that parents are abandoned. In fact, it's not like that, because when we hear the word nursing home or nursing home, sometimes it makes our minds stressed," said Prof. Ari, quoted by the Undip website.

He also revealed that there was a need for a replacement of terms among the public in referring to nursing homes so that they could have a more positive meaning, for example, a home for the elderly.

"It means how we make terms that make us comfortable, for example, an old house where there are complete facilities," said Prof. Ari.

"So that our connotations of nursing homes or nursing homes for the elderly are changed into terms that touch the heart and the assumption that nursing homes do not mean to be discarded and the elderly must be given an understanding," he continued.