Title: Munafik 2
Origin: Malaysia
Director: Syamsul Yusof
Date Released: 2018
In summary: i gave this movie 5.5 / 10.
'Munafik 2' tells the story of a single mother named Sakinah who lives in poverty in a remote village with her daughter and her elderly father. Their lives are haunted and disturbed by an evil spirit believed to come from Abu Jar, a man who misused religious teachings with the aim of misleading all the villagers for his personal gain.
In the neighboring village, Adam’s prowess is seeked to oppose Abu Jar when his evil spirits sent to invade Sakinah is causing everything to go awry. This caused Adam to start a mission to save Sakinah, but at the same time he is also disturbed by something horrible.
Did Adam succeed in helping Sakinah and other villagers out of the clutches of the heretical teachings of Abu Jar and his followers? To find out the answer, you can watch 'Munafik 2' at netflix.
I've watched the first installment of this movie which is 'Munafik' (means Hypocrite). However, for those who haven't watch the first installment, do not worry, because this film can still be clearly understood and can still stand on its own without being too tied to the first film.
What I can conclude is basically, 'Munafik 2' is not solely just a horror movie that shows scary images and demons, but subtly beings more to religious message. I felt the narration of the movie is a little disturbed.
The character of Adam that I saw in this film is like trying too hard to tell about what Islam really is and what heresy really is. From one point of view, is can considered to be good because it can educate the local audience, especially Muslims to increase their knowledge, and in the same time educate and emphasize the info that may be new for some people.
However, from another point of view, when it is too dense and many scenes try convey about religion, seem to have caused the course of the story to sometimes be a bit swept and interfere with the main storytelling. Sometimes the scenes seem to have nothing related and do not help the storytelling journey.
Looking from cinematography and camera angle point of view, 'Munafik 2' is one of the best. The background of the film is successfully presented with the narration of a mysterious, gloomy atmosphere and full of mystical elements that help raise the restlessness of the audience. The scenes involving Adam with the ghost of an Indonesian-speaking woman are also quite eye-catching and something that is considered new to horror films in Malaysia.
Jump scare is one of the element being played throughout the movie. I personally dislike jump scare, because for me, it is exhausting to be startled by a loud sound rather that scary images of ghost or demons.
