FLY BY NIGHT

Release Date: Malaysia, 11 Apr 2019

Genre: Crime / Thriller

Running Length: 1:30

Cast: Sunny Pang, Jack Tan, Fabian Loo, Bront Palarae, Eric Chen, Frederick Lee

Director: Zahir Omar

Screenplay: Dain Said, Ivan Yeo, Frederick Bailey

FLY BY NIGHT is another step in the right direction for Malaysian cinema. 

What's interesting about this locally made movie: 

1. The director Zahir Omar. A non-Chinese dude directing an ensemble cast of primarily Chinese actors speaking their own native language ie. Cantonese and Mandarin. Respect!
2. The risque content. Aside from the occasional shocking violence, this movie does not shy away from the topic of power abuse and misconduct by the local police force.  

"U nak kopi atau kopi?"

Such a movie, together with last year's One Two Jaga would never have seen the light in our local cinemas before Malaysia Baru.

This movie is about a group of taxi drivers who operates a low-key extortion racket targeting rich passengers. Of course, things go awry when some of the group members became impatient and greedy and got themselves entangled with various "interesting" parties.

I read somewhere that the director is a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino's earlier films (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction). So, it's no big surprise to see some of QT's signature style appearing in this movie. 

As for how I felt about this movie - it didn't really move me. It's a very nicely shot film but there were some jarring continuity and tonal inconsistencies. Perhaps, there were just too many characters and too short of a time to unpack some of these characters. As a result, some of them unintentionally came off as caricatures. 

"I should've been a Grab driver instead"

Maybe that's why I couldn't find anyone in the cast I could root for. Moreover, the stakes just wasn't high enough to be immersed into this film. 

Nevertheless, when this film gets picked up by a streaming service in the coming future (I don't think they are showing it anymore in the cinemas), I strongly encourage you to catch it then. Fly By Night demonstrates that Malaysian filmmakers are capable of telling compelling crime stories and we as Malaysians, should support our own products.    

RATING: 7.5/10