Alhamdulillah. I have watched Munafik at the first day of the show. I have chosen to watch at midnight movie as I felt proud to see the hall was filled with a lot of Malaysians. Well said, I am proud that we supported our local movie. I would say that Munafik is one of the best movies to watch based on my perspective as a human. As a Muslim, it would assist you to understand more about being redha and the real meaning of Munafik. In the first place, Munafik is a story about an ustaz called Adam as he met with an accident. It was a run hit accident whereby his wife was dead at the accident site. In that case, he felt so frustrated and isolated himself at home without going to the mosque and stopped healing those who have spiritual problems. I think I should not reveal the secrets behind but I will tell you more on what is happening later on. After that incident, Ustaz Adam felt so stressed as his son, Amir, was always talking about his mother. In other words, he missed his mother so much. Adam got a phone call. He needed to cure Maria (Nabila Huda) as she was possessed with something. The watchers need to keep on thinking on what is going on and more strange things happened eventually. What are they? You have to watch! In that story, one of the ustaz was killed as someone send his "ghost" and then everything will be revealed at the end of the story. You will see that Adam will dig again his wife graveyard and also bring it back to home. You will see some nails are coming out from Maria's mouth. You will see Maria to enter corpse freezer and something would come out. You will feel shock again and again and then you will know who is the hitter and who is the man behind all the mystery scenes. In the aspect of horror, I would give 3/5. In the aspect of cinematography and plot, I would give 5/5. In this movie, you will see a different view of a horror movie as islamic elements are inserted as the pillars of the whole plot.
The original Munafik, (which I haven’t seen) was released in 2016 and became a major hit in its native Malaysia. Now the sequel, which was also a huge hit, Munafik 2, has turned up on Netflix. Having only seen one other Malaysian film, Dukun, I decided to give it a watch.
In the original Adam, a traditional religious medical practitioner, played by writer/director Syamsul Yusof, was struggling with his faith after losing his wife. He’s convinced to take up the case of a woman who may have a link to the accident that killed his wife and must face the forces of darkness and reclaim his faith.
Munafik 2 picks up years later. Adam has regained his faith and career. He is approached to help a single mother Sakinah (Maya Karin). She lives in a rural village and is being tormented by a spirit linked to Abuja (Nasir Bilal Khan). He is a fanatic teaching a distorted version of Islam for his own purposes and willing to kill those who oppose him. Adam will have to fight both supernatural and flesh and blood enemies in order to save her, and himself.
Probably the best way to describe Munafik 2 would be to imagine any of the multitudes of cult oriented horror films. Then imagine a “faith-based” take of it. Because just as those films make everything in them secondary to pushing their message of Jesus and Christianity, so does this for Allah and Islam. And it’s every bit as tedious.
With all the preaching pared down, Munafik 2 could still have been an entertaining film. Abuja is a ruthless villain. We first see him burning somebody at the stake. Shortly after he’s taking credit for sending demons after Sakinah’s father. Pitting him against the devout Adam could have been an enjoyable good versus evil tale. The various battles between good and evil are well done and fairly exciting. But the constant hammering away with the film’s message
I do give Munafik 2 credit for, even obliquely, dealing with a major issue in the Muslim world, violent religious extremism. Abuja could as easily be the leader of ISIS or any other extremist group. Demanding loyalty to their brand of religion and killing those who hold to more mainstream versions of their faith. It’s message of rejecting this is a good one, in any culture.
Munafik 2 is proof heavy-handed preaching is dull in any faith. Unless you feel the need for a sermon, I’d avoid it.
Munafik 2 is currently streaming on Netflix in Malaysian with subtitles
