Rahsia is a 2023 Malaysian horror film in which a woman mysteriously loses her son during a picnic by the beach and starts to experience strange haunting occurrences making her husband doubt her sanity. The title translates into English as “Secret”.
Directed by Shamyl Othman from a screenplay co-written by Natasha Azlan, Alfie Palermo, Luqman Sheikh Ghazali and Zulaikha Zakaria. Produced by Natasha Azlan and Alfie Palermo. Executive produced by Raja Jastina Arshad.
The Astro Shaw-Kuman Pictures co-production stars Nabila Huda, Fikry Ibrahim, Eman Manan, Marsha Milan Londoh, Rashidi Ishak, Nur Qistina Raishah and Syed Ali Murtadha.
Plot:
Ramlah, Hamdan and their children, Marina and Saiful, return to Ramlah’s childhood home to visit her father, Tan Sri Karim, on his birthday. While on a picnic by a beach, the leisurely trip takes a tragic turn when Ramlah sees a mysterious figure suddenly take Saiful away and they disappear.
The police become doubtful of Ramlah’s description of the mysterious figure she saw, but they push on with a search and rescue operation, combing the beach to find Saiful. As Hamdan joins the police effort, Ramlah begins encountering unexplained hauntings in the house. She hears strange noises but is unable to detect their source.
The mysterious haunting and her missing son take their toll on Ramlah’s sanity as well as her marriage. But time and time again, clues lead her to believe that Saiful is close and still alive, as she races against time to find him before it’s too late…
Review:
Malaysian horror movies – are not very common like their Indonesian brethren, but they can certainly match them in quality. This remake of the popular 1987 film of the same name doesn’t stray too far from the familiar formula and that’s what works precisely in this its favour.
It’s always a danger to remake a popular movie, especially if it’s well-loved and was already seen as a classic. Malaysia is not known for its awesome horror movies, but when they’re good, they’re really good.
And other than changing a few little bits of the original story round and modernising some other elements, this is a rather faithful reboot. While it doesn’t bring anything new to the genre, it almost perfects all the elements within, if you can get past the rather slow start.
The first part of the film is rather slow, and there is a reason as the movie uses it to build up the rather complex backstory.
Part religion, part black magic, the movie starts to find its pace after the son goes missing. And from then on, it’s almost relentless but not fatigue-inducing.
There are the usual horror scares in the movie – such as the dragging by the legs or the mysterious self-playing piano – but the real creepy moments are when the apparition is shown on the screen and then the effects the apparition’s appearance has on the woman.
Then it all culminates in a rather frantic ending that might be a bit disappointing, especially as it does the modern horror movie trope of confusingly leaving itself open for a sequel.
In regards to 2023 Asian horror movies, this would have to be in my top ten so far, and unless any pearlers are coming in the next three months I can’t see this film dropping out of that list.
It’s a solid production all-round, which I am glad to recommend.
The Arty Dans, MOVIES & MANIA
YouTube review [in Australian]:
YouTube review [in Malaysian with no English subtitles]:
Trailer:
Release date:
Rahsia was released in Malaysia on August 10, 2023.
