Munafik

did you know that jinn, anglicised as 'genies', feature prominently in the Quran and Islamic theology? corporeal or spiritual entities created from fire and endowed with free will, the evil ones, sometimes distinguished as 'shaytan-jinn', bear a resemblance to the demons of Christian lore

i found this film in one of IMDb's 'people who liked this also liked...' lists and was intrigued by the prospect of watching a possession story told from an Islamic perspective rather than a Christian one, which are a dime a dozen in US cinema; i found that the two theologies are more alike than different, at least inasmuch as a viewer needs to understand of them to appreciate a good possession horror, sharing beliefs in a One True God, the devil, depicted in hircine fashion, and demons (or in this film, jinn). it recalls The Sixth Sense at points, though not quite as compelling story-wise, begins to drag a bit slowly for my liking around the middle, but overall didn't disappoint. i liked the soundtrack and definitely want to watch this again someday

Story is convoluted, there is no development, just big events during the story. With zero development between events, I didn't care for a single character.

The soundtrack is horrible. It keeps going, it rarely stops, like something big is always happening(due to no downtimes).

There is only one good thing about the movie, the plot twist at the end, and that's it. The main character does a decently good job, but it's impossible to enjoy his performance when the rest of the cast is average at best.

I get that the movie is around religion, but there should've been MORE than religion. Just because a movie like Creed is about boxing, it has more things in the middle.

Don't waste your time.

Malaysian entry that centers around the anger felt by a man ("Adam") toward the driver who killed his wife in a car accident. (Adam is played by actor/director Syamsul Yusof) Properly speaking, this is an overtly religious movie that uses horror as the medium for its message. That being said, if you enjoy character dynamics and a moral dimension to your films, this may work for even the more secularly oriented viewer.

While the film is therefore expressly written from an Islamic point of view, the general message here is universal: an exploration of how anger and an inability to forgive blinds and damages one over time (there are two additional important details about the car crash, revealed at the end of the film, that are very much intended to make that point.)

Like other South Asian entries, "Munafik" can tend toward a sort of sprawling, soap-opera style multi-character plot that is sometimes hard to follow via subtitles. However, Yusof mostly succeeds, though it is perhaps a tad long (mostly in the middle). The ending is, in many respects, remarkable for a "horror" movie; and the camera work and lighting were uniformly excellent. Recommended.

Munafik mempunyai jalan cerita yang menarik dan seram juga. Yang paling bestnya adalah plot "twist" di babak klimaks. Filem ini adalah arahan oleh Syamsul Yusof dan dia juga memainkan watak protagonis dalam filem ini. Nampaknya filem ini menaikkan taraf genre seram dalam industri filem negara Malaysia.

Munafik is the best horror film i ever seen. Syamsul Yusof is the best actor i ever seen in my life. I also like horror movies like The Conjuring, Annabelle 2, IT (2017) and Insidious.

Can't wait to Munafik 2 in this year.