Mak (Farah Ahmad) lives in a bamboo house out in the jungle with her two kids Along (Mhia Farhana) and Angah (Harith Haziq). Soon they find another kid in the jungle and take her in: a cute little girl (Putri Qaseh) covered in grime and blood, wielding a knife.
They clean her up and feed her, and wake next morning to find her eating their chickens, raw. Then she tells them they will all be dead when the moon is full, and slits her own neck. Now, I don't really know about Malaysian customs, but that seems rather extreme; just leave a one-star review, lady.
More creepy weirdness ensues - there's a lot of amazing (and amazingly creepy) imagery in this movie, from the prologue where the little blood-soaked girl wanders among burning buildings, to a deer hanging from a tree, to some other scenes later that it'd be best not to spoil. There's not that much of a plot, just the family enduring a gauntlet of supernatural horrors, which seem to somehow be related to an old lady (June Lojong) and a grieving hunter (Namron) who wander by every now and then.
The events are heavily tinged by local folklore and Muslim beliefs - things end up making a certain amount of (mythical) sense, but I imagine I'm missing a lot of detail; the feel of it reminded me at times of Indonesian black magic movies, which I guess makes sense.
It's beautifully directed (by Emir Ezwan) and shot (by Saifuddin Mussa), with lots of static and slow tracking shots, a gorgeous earthy palette and excellent use of darkness. The soundtrack (by Reinchez Ng), mostly droning synths, do a lot to prop up the film's atmosphere. It's a simple, slow-burn movie punctuated by some startling, nasty shocks and a whole lot of weird folklore-based shit. Of course I loved it.
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