Penunggang Agama should've, could've, would've been better through nepotism

 

Do all hospital workers have to wear a songkok? (Image courtesy of iluminasi.com)

The Yusof Haslam family has long been making waves in the local Malaysian cinematic environment. The patriarch, Datuk Dr. Yusof Haslam, successfully cemented himself in the annals of local 90's movies and television with hits like Sembilu, Maria Mariana and Gerak Khas, before taking a step back and collecting producer fees on trash projects like Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam and KL Wangan. Which to his credit, is a genius move, btw - unofficially retire from directing with your list of box office hits and let others destroy the quality of local cinema. 

Following in his footsteps is prodigal son (literally), Shamsul Yusof, who has proven that nepotism can get you far in this country. But also to his credit, Munafik and Munafik 2 were pretty phenomenal. 

Now enter Syafiq Yusof, the third installation in the Yusof Haslam movie franchise. A new name to carry on the family brand of "if I make 10 trash movies, but one box office success, i'll get a datukship". 

Syafiq's latest contribution to the cinematic market comes in a copy and paste form of his older brother's Munafik and Munafik 2, but without religious references layered in every five seconds. 

"Now pull my finger" *pulls it* "pootNepotismpoot" (Image courtesy of Kosmo)

Munafik tells the story of a rich family (what else is new?) who come under attack from supernatural forces. They mistakingly rely on Tok Aji (Nasir Bilal Khan) whom they believe to be a religious healer, to help them drive out this entity not knowing that it was him that sent it in the first place as part of a plot to steal the family's wealth. That's literally the plot. The entire plot. I kid you not.

The movie stars, Zul Ariffin, Jalaluddin Hassan, Nasir Bilal Khan, Azira Shafinaz, Sabrina Ali, Johan As'ari, Salina Saibi and Puteri Nur Qaseh. 

In terms of acting, there are no complaints. All the talents carried themselves pretty well and I think that contributed a lot to the quality of the movie. 

There are reasons why I feel Penunggang Agama is a copy-paste effort. 

1. The son Amir, played by Zul Ariffin, is fighting his own internal struggle to place absolute faith in his religion much like Syamsul Yusof's character did in Munafik.

2. The family battle a man hiding behind a religious facade, much like in Munafik 2. 

However, aside from being a half-assed mirror of his brother's movies, Syafiq Yusof did include nice deviations that made Penunggang Agama stand out as a sub-par horror movie. 

The Malay dream (Image courtesy of bebasnews.com)

There are a bunch of things I can nitpick about this movie so colour me petty. First of all, there should have been more telltale signs that Tok Aji was heretical aside from unclear recitations of Quranic verses and scattering twigs over someone possessed, maybe subtle hints that stray from religious normalcy. The creature designs were mediocre, and the fat demon at the end was ridiculously dumb. I understand that it fits the traditional image conveyed by Islam, but when adapted to real life it looks fucking stupid. The last bit where the demon lied was a little too on the nose and the final battle was too lacklustre. 

However, the production quality was pretty good considering it went straight to television and the cinematography was decent without too many special effects. We would've liked a lot more horror scenes, but I think what Syafiq Yusof really wanted to focus on was Tok Aji and the spirits were just an after thought. 

All in all, it was an "OK" movie. Asian Does Horror gives Penunggang Agama 👻👻 ghost emojis out of five.