After quite a spate of Malaysian films, here’s a Singaporean one that has won critical acclaim on the international level. I went into this blind as usual without knowing anything about it and it really makes a difference. The film starts slow and gives little insight as to what the protagonist is really thinking. It took a while for it to sink in for me that this is a somber examination of the death penalty as it is carried out in Singapore. The sparse narrative and plain presentation make sense in order to treat the subject matter respectfully. It doesn’t fully commit to its ending which is a shame but it left me with an uneasy feeling about how capital punishment and the effects it leaves on the executioner and that is a sure sign of a successful film.

Aiman Yusof who works in Singapore’s prison service transfers into the maximum security Larangan Prison. He proves to be a diligent guard and is empathetic towards the prisoners but seems to keep himself at a distance from the other guards. One day he notices the chief executioner Rahim in the cafeteria. He volunteers to help the elderly man find a new supplier for the rope they need and is praised for his mechanical skills in repairing old equipment. At home, Aiman lives with his elder sister Suhaila who is uneasy with his chosen profession. From their conversation, we realize that their father was a convicted criminal who was executed by Rahim decades ago. When Rahim’s existing assistant is unable to take the psychological pressure of being an executioner, Aiman is promoted in his place. He attends an execution that Rahim carries out and sees how the older man interacts with the condemned prisoner and his family. His security clearance runs into a snag when the authorities notice a discrepancy between his name and his father’s name and he worries that his secret about his father will be revealed.

We can tell early on that something is up with Aiman’s unhealthy obsession with Rahim but the film leaves us guessing for a long time as to what is really going on. I’d commend director and writer Boo Junheng for avoiding overly obvious exposition and even doing without clumsy flashback scenes. But I think the film actually goes a little too far in keeping things mysterious, delaying a key revelation so much that its impact is muted. We are left to infer for ourselves what kind of childhood Aiman and sister had to undergo as the offspring of a hated criminal in Singapore and how that shaped Aiman. The confrontation between Aiman and Rahim ends on a somewhat unsatisfying note as they argue about the morality of capital punishment. Aiman accuses Rahim of faking sympathy to the prisoners as his objective is just to carry out his job smoothly. Rahim responds angrily but his subsequent actions reveal that he too is burdened by the weight of what he does.

Still, this is a masterful film and is more psychologically sophisticated than I’d thought. The camera work is low-key but effective. The imagery conveys the grim weight inherent in taking away someone’s life and it was shocking to me how the film details the process of a hanging with clinical detail. Given the shadow cast over his childhood by his father’s death sentence for being a notorious criminal, it makes sense that Aiman would develop an obsession over both the execution process and the person who carried it out. There are layers to the relationship between Aiman and his sister too. Aiman’s unhappiness about Suhaila dating a white Australian man feels unfair and unconscionable at first. With no flashback scenes, it’s up to the viewer to realize on our own how much opprobrium they must have endured together growing up to understand why Aiman interprets this as her abandoning him.

There are ways that this film could be better. Improved editing and doling out critical information earlier would have resulted in more tension, I’d say. It would also be more interesting to have someone advocate for capital punishment in Singapore even while the film bemoans the psychological toll it takes on the executioner. But this is indeed a very strong, very mature film and as my wife notes, it’s surprising that no one else has offered a point of view quite like this before.