''Jwanita'' (abbr for ''Jiwa Wanita''; ''Women Heart'') is a 2015
Malaysian Malay-language
Malay ( , ; , Jawi: ) is an Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The language is an official language of Brunei, Malaysia, and Singa ...
psychological horror film
In films and television series, psychological horror creates tension through exploiting the shared psychological and emotional vulnerabilities of the human psyche, differing from traditional horrors, where the source of the fear are material th ...
directed by Osman Ali features A-List actors,
Maya Karin
Maya Karin Roelcke (born 29 October 1979) is a Malaysian film actress, television host and singer, known for '' Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam'', '' Anak Halal'', '' Ombak Rindu'' and '' Munafik 2''. She holds the Malaysia Film Festival record ...
,
Bront Palarae
Nasrul Suhaimin bin Saifuddin (born 27 September 1978), known professionally as Bront Palarae, is a Malaysian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer.
Bront built his career in the early 2001 with roles in Castello, Bilut, Tipah Tert ...
, Cristina Suzanne Stockstill, Umie Aida, and
Marsha Milan Londoh
Marsha Milan Londoh (born 6 December 1985) is a Malaysian singer and actress. She gained fame for being a contestant in the third season of the Malaysian reality show singing contest ''Akademi Fantasia'', in which she won fourth place.
In 2013 ...
. The film tells of Jwanita (
Maya Karin
Maya Karin Roelcke (born 29 October 1979) is a Malaysian film actress, television host and singer, known for '' Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam'', '' Anak Halal'', '' Ombak Rindu'' and '' Munafik 2''. She holds the Malaysia Film Festival record ...
) who is separated from her younger sister, Julyka (Cristina Suzanne Stockstill) when she was little. She was raised by a Dukun (Shaman in English), (Umie Aida) and was often abused. After both adults, they met again but Jwanita had threatened Julyka's life and her family. It was released on 24 September 2015.
Plot
Jwanita (
Maya Karin
Maya Karin Roelcke (born 29 October 1979) is a Malaysian film actress, television host and singer, known for '' Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam'', '' Anak Halal'', '' Ombak Rindu'' and '' Munafik 2''. She holds the Malaysia Film Festival record ...
) who was mentally ill and physically abused by Ibu / Dukun (Umie Aida) and her adopted father (Radin Intan), who practised black magic. Jwanita later met with Farhan (
Bront Palarae
Nasrul Suhaimin bin Saifuddin (born 27 September 1978), known professionally as Bront Palarae, is a Malaysian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer.
Bront built his career in the early 2001 with roles in Castello, Bilut, Tipah Tert ...
) who took care of her after she had killed both her adopted parents in a tragic event. But everything was destroyed when her beloved Farhan was a fiancée of her own younger sister, Julyka (Cristina Suzanne Stockstill) who had been separated from her since childhood. After disappearing on the wedding day of Farhan and Julyka, Jwanita reappeared with a much different character.
Jwanita started teasing Dr. Farhan, to cheat on Julyka and incite his men. Miss, the maid (
Marsha Milan Londoh
Marsha Milan Londoh (born 6 December 1985) is a Malaysian singer and actress. She gained fame for being a contestant in the third season of the Malaysian reality show singing contest ''Akademi Fantasia'', in which she won fourth place.
In 2013 ...
) was threatened not to disturb her plans after she saw Jwanita worship. However, before Nona had informed her employer of Jwanita's weird behaviour, she had been killed. Jwanita then restored Miss Mary's body. Miss Nona has been used by Jwanita to disturb the two employees of Dr. Farhan, before they both were killed. Mayatt these three people were then used to disturb the life of Julyka.
Julyka starts to attempt to separate the children from Jwanita, due to suspicion of past tragic occurrences at the house. When Jwanita took the children out for a walk, Julyka has found Jwanita's place of worship in the warehouse. When Jwanita and the children return, she was angry when she learns that Julyka had found her place of worship, leading to her chasing to kill Julyka and her children. Once discovering that Julyka's children are rejecting her after what she did, Jwanita drags the children to her place of worship, with the intent to burn and kill them along with her corpses. Suddenly, Dr Farhan immediately confronts Jwanita to prevent her from killing her children, after discovering the damages done to his home and the wounded and bloodied Julyka. However, Dr Farhan gets wounded by Jwanita in the process of the whole family escaping the warehouse, causing them both to get burned alive in the warehouse, killing both of them.
Dr. Farhan and Julyka were almost safe but Jwanita had disbanded Dr. Farhan. Jwanita then commits suicide along with burning himself with Dr. Farhan. Julyka and her children, however, are safe.
Cast
*
Maya Karin
Maya Karin Roelcke (born 29 October 1979) is a Malaysian film actress, television host and singer, known for '' Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam'', '' Anak Halal'', '' Ombak Rindu'' and '' Munafik 2''. She holds the Malaysia Film Festival record ...
as Jwanita
* Cristina Suzanne Stockstill as Julyka
*
Bront Palarae
Nasrul Suhaimin bin Saifuddin (born 27 September 1978), known professionally as Bront Palarae, is a Malaysian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer.
Bront built his career in the early 2001 with roles in Castello, Bilut, Tipah Tert ...
as Dr Farhan
*
Marsha Milan Londoh
Marsha Milan Londoh (born 6 December 1985) is a Malaysian singer and actress. She gained fame for being a contestant in the third season of the Malaysian reality show singing contest ''Akademi Fantasia'', in which she won fourth place.
In 2013 ...
as Nona
* Umie Aida as stepmother Jwanita / Dukun (
shaman
Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
)
* Elnisa Husni as young Jwanita
Publishing
The movie director, Osman Ali, commented that he was inspired to produce the film from his readings on murder cases in the press. The film was his second horror movie after the Puaka Tebing Biru in 2007. The Jwanita character was written for Maya Karin and the Dukun character was specially created for Datin Umie Aida who had starred in the Dukun movie (2007). The film is also the first horror film for
Bront Palarae
Nasrul Suhaimin bin Saifuddin (born 27 September 1978), known professionally as Bront Palarae, is a Malaysian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer.
Bront built his career in the early 2001 with roles in Castello, Bilut, Tipah Tert ...
. A total of 10 tongs of synthetic blood were imported from Thailand for use throughout the film.
During filming,
Maya Karin
Maya Karin Roelcke (born 29 October 1979) is a Malaysian film actress, television host and singer, known for '' Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam'', '' Anak Halal'', '' Ombak Rindu'' and '' Munafik 2''. She holds the Malaysia Film Festival record ...
too into character so Jwanita directors, Osman Ali and
Bront Palarae
Nasrul Suhaimin bin Saifuddin (born 27 September 1978), known professionally as Bront Palarae, is a Malaysian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer.
Bront built his career in the early 2001 with roles in Castello, Bilut, Tipah Tert ...
did not dare approach him on the set filming.
The film has been filming at Kijal and Kemaman,
Terengganu
Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu) is a sultanate and States and federal territories of Malaysia, federal state of Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l-Iman (c ...
, Kuala Lumpur and Kuala Kubu Baru. The process of filming takes a month, which is the shortest of the Osman Ali. There was a scene where Marsha was hanged and hit on the wall repeatedly. This half caused Marsha to experience bruises throughout the rounds. However, the post-production process has caused this movie to take three years before it can be aired.
Reception
The film became popular in social media since the film was publicly televised.
Showing
The movie's trailer was uploaded to YouTube on 10 July 2015. The movie's premiere was performed at Nu Sentral's
GSC on 8 September 2015. Some people were reportedly trapped and could not continue watching because it is too horrific. The film was publicly uploaded on 24 September 2015 in 57 cinemas. The film has been rated 18 by
FINAS
The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (), abbreviated FINAS, is the central government agency and governing body for the film industry of Malaysia. Its role is to regulate economic and commercial matters related to the film industr ...
, after 30 percent of the horror scenes were cut by the director. After five days of airing, the movie managed to raise RM 600 thousand. After 21 days of the show, the film collected a collection of RM 1.5 million.
Reviews
The average review of the film is mixed. Most praise praises Maya Karin's acting as well as the horror elements in the movie despite the criticisms being directed towards the fibreboard arrangement. Mohd Al Qayum Azizi from
mStar
MStar Semiconductor, Inc. () was a Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company specializing in mixed-mode integrated circuit technologies, based in Hsinchu Hsien. MStar made hardware for multimedia and wireless communications, in the form of display ...
praised Osman Ali's instructions as well as encouraging actors from Umie Aida, Marsha Milan Londoh and Maya Karin. He also would not be surprised if, Maya got the nomination Best Actress for Malaysian Film Festival (FFM).
Deric Ect from the movie portal Dailyseni.com criticised the film as "good but not the best". He commented "the problem with this movie is Osman Ali." and despite the impressive performances of Maya Karin, the plot of the star-studded story as well as the directive of the director to retard this movie. He also pointed out that perhaps this film would cause the fall of Maya Karin in the film industry.
Soundtrack
The OST of this film is Dendam Cinta (Revenge of Love in English) by Alyah. The song was launched on
Hulu Kelang
Ulu Kelang (alternately Hulu Kelang, Ulu Klang, or Hulu Klang), is a mukim and a state constituency in Gombak District, Selangor, Malaysia. It is one of five state constituencies administered by Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ).
Geography ...
on 18 August 2015.
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, id=6423608, title=Jwanita
2015 films
Malay-language films
Malaysian psychological horror films
2015 horror films