11/25
Overall, this film has a lot of strengths
A widow and her daughter travel to the deep south of Thailand to seek the help of a Muslim doctor after a djinn is released in a ruined house. After his wife dies, a factory worker moves with his teenage daughter to a dilapidated mansion in a predominantly Muslim suburb of Bangkok. His disrespect for several artifacts inadvertently unleashes a series of curses on them, and he must try to fix the situation to prevent further incidents.
One of the main enjoyable features is the strong storyline, which allows the film to use local folklore and traditions as a basis for more straightforward supernatural antics
Working within the context of the country’s history by exploring Thailand’s troubled cultural and social relations with Malaysian citizens, with the Muslim community being in serious conflict with the more traditional Buddhist methodology prevalent throughout the country, is a great way to work here. Instead of just stumbling upon a series of ghosts or hallucinations and thinking it’s all in his head, the downward spiral is given a historical context that easily explains everything that happens to him and his relationships with the people around him. When these aspects are brought up as a possible means to the nature of what’s happening around him, this setup becomes more believable, which helps tie together the boundaries of the final half, where everything makes sense.
The film also does a lot with its series of impressive and slightly creepy hauntings
With the initial setup providing a small hint of a curse that will soon affect others, the gradual build-up of events as the action moves into the present is quite intriguing. Featuring the traditional series of setups, including hallucinations of people or things that aren’t there, shadows coming to life with their knowledge, or whispers of demonic influence taking over, these aspects form a major part of the middle segments here, as the haunted house-style structure is spot on. This leads to a strong finale where the show is cranked up a notch, involving the influence of ghostly beings, banishment rituals, a supernatural fight session, and a more focused energy that allows for a lot of action when it is warranted and necessary.
As a whole, these factors are enough to make this a lot of fun, although there are some issues
This section also shows a strong use of Muslim culture in relation to the interactions of demonic beings and spiritual battles, which adds a different flavor to these scenes. One of the major drawbacks is the heavy and somewhat unnecessary running time, which goes on much longer than it should have. While we get a lot of build-up around their strained relationship and the need to rebuild it, as well as the inner workings of their existence in the community, some of it goes on way too long and causes the pacing to drag and stutter.
Seeing the past in the way it is presented through various characters responsible for cursing and counter-cursing the place is just exhausting and exhausting when a simple story about it would have made the film a little easier
A lot of the repetitive nature of the neighbors Trying to instill their beliefs into two people or welcoming them into the community at work can be cut, as can the flashback explaining the origin of the cursed property, which is played out in a staged manner rather than simply being given as a story told to explain what happened.
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