Grab and Uber platforms have both been a part and parcel in everyone's lives in the hectic world we live in today. As much as they are of utmost importance to the public, an insidious agenda from the drivers may be upon us.
The director (Zahir Omar) comes forefront with his debut film that serves as a gritty neo-noir which is a rare subject from Malaysia's film industry.
This crime thriller with a fresh and critical perspective is set in a half-cooked fictional world that stays true to rough reality in the midst city of Kuala Lumpur but also wanders off to uncharted territory to define the ridiculously gory premise with undisputed splatters of Tarantino-esque style and tone to the heavyweight drama.
It kicks off by introducing a not-so poverty stricken family who are taxi drivers but use their service to the group's own advantage by committing an extortion racket. The partner-in-crime group is led by the Boss (Sunny Pang), his younger brother Sailo (Fabian Loo) and his best pal named Gwailo (Jack Tan), and its newest member who also happens to be an old friend of Boss, Ah Soon (Eric Chen).
Things take a dark... or a darker turn when Gwailo does a dirty job behind Boss' back that puts his entire gang into jeopardy after revealing his impulsive behaviour to a bunch of do-not-mess people.
The family is then forced to play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with Kamal (Bront Palarae), a cop who is praised of always getting his job done but with dirty methods and Jared (Frederick Lee), an eerie psychotic crime boss who might be applauded for his talented acting skill and could become the Malaysian Joker or replace Joaquin Phoenix after all.
As the world unfolds, it seems that the director has made a promise to himself to show the audience of the corruption that happens in today's world. He loads the grimmy world with scarred-face hooligans, cops with erosion of values, a revengeful mistress and puffs of cigarette smokes.
With the explicit showcase, fortunately the director handles them with care to steer clear of the potholes designed by the strict Film Censorship Board of Malaysia.
It is also noteworthy that the director manages to invent characters with three-dimensional structure that successfully makes the audience feels vulnerable to both ends of emotional spectrum. What makes this more interesting and exciting is that he weaves and interlocks each of the character's story with one another and untangles them smoothly as soon as the credits roll.
The film serves a solid story by throwing in various genres to the recipe. At one point, it feels like a dark thriller comedy but another moment is abruptly altered to be a crime solving puzzles which then turns to a melodrama genre.
Talking about the action line-ups, the film offers plenty of adrenaline rush gobsmacking moments which includes perfectly choreographed chase sequences and contains a few bloody violence scenes that will unexpectedly make the audience look away and at the edge of their seats.
The score feels wonderfully unique and authentic in its own way as it syncs along with the scenes showed on the screen.
The climax feels a bit rushed and gets a little crowded with the interconnected characters.
As a result, it never explains the 'Who?' question in the final minute of the film as the director already stated that it is up to the audience's expectations to answer the question. Albeit the film prevents from spoon feeding the audience, however the daring quality and the stakes that it brings to the table for the conclusion is overwhelming. You will never be disappointed to the cliffhanger as everyone will have their own suspect by the end.
Fly By Night is a film that never afraid to reveal its true raw form of identity. Similar to One Two Jaga, it is packed with metaphors and hidden gems and it is meant to be watched over and over again. This Oscar-worthy film is a cinematic achievement for Malaysia's film industry that puts a higher benchmark to upcoming films in stepping up their games as well.
