Movie review: Munafik 2

A CULT leader named Ustaz Abuja (Nasir Bilal Khan), who has founded a commune in a small, isolated village, puts a dark spell on Sakinah (Maya Karin), a young single mother, after she refuses to marry him and join the cult.
Sakinah seeks the help of Ustaz Adam (Syamsul Yusof) to get rid of the devil that is haunting her, leading to a battle between the two religious leaders ... and between good and evil.
Things get more complicated as Abuja gets personal, and harms Adam’s parents.
This simple plot has so many scary moments that you are likely to jump out from your seat and suffer nightmares. Some audience members were heard screaming their lungs out in the cinema!
Congratulations to Syamsul, who starred in and directed the film, for successfully creating an eerie atmosphere.
Be sure to arrive for the film on time, as the opening scene will send shivers down your spine.
Still, the film is far from perfect. For starters, I notice the characters seem to be shouting out their dialogue as if competing to see who can yell the loudest – and I must say the winner is Nasir.
But such yelling gets on my nerves, and completely spoil my enjoyment of the film.
Another weak point is Nasir as the villain: he is not convincing enough. His character Abuja looks like a clown who has escaped from a mental institution, rather than an evil religious cult leader.
To make matter worse, his costume is ridiculous. He looks as though he is auditioning to play Jafar in the live-action remake of Disney’s Aladdin.
Nasir is a wonderful, award-winning actor with a lengthy resume, but unfortunately, he fails to shine here.
Like Nasir, Maya too is a big disappointment. She starts off subtly enough portraying her fears, but as the film progressed, she begins yelling out her dialogue, and over-acting.
I really believe Syamsul is a wonderful director with many creative brilliant ideas.
But he should really try to stop having his actors yell at the top of their voice. A little more reserve would go a long way.
If this movie had less yelling, Syamsul would have a gem in his hand.