KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — It’s got all the elements you’d want in a murder mystery and then some.
Mystic Village, a new TV series which premiered on Astro’s Premier Channel 410 last week is a cosy mystery that combines age-old supernatural beliefs with modern-day social media influencer culture.
Think Sherlock Holmes meets Imam Muda set in fictional Kampung Sungai Gelik Kiri in Kedah, a seemingly idyllic kampung with an underlying darkness that slowly but surely comes to surface.
“What was important in writing this show was that it cannot be set anywhere else but Malaysia,” said co-creator and scriptwriter Honey Ahmad at a press conference held yesterday at Nasi Lemak Angah, a much-loved Sentul neighbourhood joint purposely chosen to recreate the village rhythm of life depicted in the show.
“So, the belief system, the supernatural aspect of it makes it very Malaysian but because I grew up on western shows, there’s a lot of western sensibilities to it so it’s a kampung story with a western pacing.”
Directed by Faizul Jais, Mystic Village is a 10-episode series that stars Gambit Saifullah, Kamal Adli, Yuna Rahim, Neera Azizi, Hafizuddin Fadzil, Fazlina Ahmad Daud, Anas Ridzuan and Mubarak Majid.
Each hour-long episode leads to the big finale of the mystery but is also a standalone episode so you can enter at episode three and still follow the story.
Shot over 47 days in Banting, Mystic Village is a whodunnit with a plot twist filled with beautiful drone shots of paddy fields, designed to be a slow burn story with a relaxed pace of viewing for audiences of all ages.
A hantu (ghost) expert and an ustaz (Muslim teacher) were hired as consultants to satisfy everybody’s understanding of a pontianak (female vampire) and harimau jadian (weretiger) and ensure accurate character portrayal.
The show is about religious influencer Yunus Ismail, played by Gambit Saifullah, who flees to his home village after a social media backlash and discovers his true calling of solving supernatural mysteries which earns him the nickname Imam P.I.by fellow kampung folk.
But unlike Sherlock Holmes who ups and leaves after the murder is solved, Yunus genuinely cares about the people he wants to help.
Honey adds that the show offers a different kind of character, not just in Yunus but also in Solehah Syawal, played by Fazlina Ahmad Daud, a middle-aged go-getter female penghulu (village head).
Even the village shaman Abang Long, played by Anas Ridzuan, has upgraded to the use of an E-Hantu 3000 spirit detecting gizmo and an online shop.
Honey said behind the façade of a beautiful kampung surrounded by paddy fields, everybody seems to be ok but there is underlying darkness and mystery in this 'kampung noir'.
“You always think of the noir genre as very hard-boiled, rainy and dark,” said Honey.
“It rains quite a bit on our show, however the kampung aspect of it is the greenery. It’s different, definitely a first.”
Co-creator and scriptwriter Bernice Low agrees.
“In terms of the genre, I’m pretty sure it’s never been done in Malaysia before as kampung stories are usually about inheritance disputes or romance between boy and girl.
"Our show does have people stories you expect in a kampung movie but it’s not what you think, there’s a twist to it.”
She said that the tendency in Malaysian TV is to make a twist for the sake of it.
“I’m not from that school and neither is Honey.
“So, a lot of the work that we have to do as writers is to say if this person is doing this, why? There has to be a reason why they’re doing that.”
A long preparation period was necessary in writing the show as a murder mystery is the most difficult genre to do but Low is confident that it can stand up against a Netflix show in terms of visual, production quality and storytelling.
“If you talk about cultural experiences you get through Netflix, like Rough Diamonds, which is about a Jewish community in Belgium, Mystic Village is about a village Muslim community in Malaysia where typically funerals and weddings are a way of life but portrayed in a visually stylish way.
“We have a tahlil (prayers-cum-feast) scene in the opening episode but it’s shot in a way that’s not been seen before in Malaysia.”
In trying to reach Netflix standards, Faizul wanted it to look like a movie.
“A great plot won’t work if it doesn’t look great too,” he said.
“Imagine a kampung story but the storyline’s quite modern and it feels like you’re watching something out of X-Files, it’s very different from what we normally have.”
As an Astro original which is a premium series with a bigger budget, he added that it was unique that Astro decided to make a kampung noir show instead of your typical action or young adult show as there aren’t a lot of murder mystery shows happening in Malaysia.
“When they initially spoke to me, it was supposed to be something of a kampung comedy drama which is fine, but when I read the script, I realised there’s a lot of layers to it.
“I’ve taken it to a slightly more serious direction, and in the end that’s what makes it stand out, it’s something that audiences haven’t really seen before, I would say.”
Gambit, who’s never played a preacher before said he was drawn to the character of an insurance adjuster who becomes a celebrity preacher after winning intellectual quiz show Imam Bestari.
“Yes, he’s an IB influencer but he’s also just a regular good guy which I find interesting,” he said.
“It’s a little bit like a Mamat Khalid movie because it’s set in a village but the team is amazing because the approach is not like a normal television approach.”
With its second episode shown on Monday, Mystic Village has already received favourable response from viewers and critics, which the crew hopes to see grow steadily as the show continues its run.
“Catch it for the mystery and hantus but stay for the characters,” said Honey.
