In the opening scene of this enigmatic tale of faith and sin a character is ranting, declaring that “whoever knows Jack about film can even make one”. We are left wondering if this is the case here too.
In the next scene someone is recounting a tale of a widow. Fatimah was a disobedient wife and a sinner and (what a surprise!) it's her fault if her poor dead husband is now forced to roam the world of the livings in the shape of a beautiful goat. Or at least this is what she thinks.
Prompted to a discussion about her theory by a couple of visiting friends, she doesn't really engage and keeps feeding lovingly and obediently the goat.
When the male friend – being Friday – decides to give her some of his “sexual energy” (as you do, on a Friday) the goat chops off the very source of his intentions. Now Fatimah is redeemed and finally the couple can ascend in Heaven together, leaving behind her flip flops on the world of sinners.
The movie has some beautiful bright colours and the goat is enigmatically handsome. The score though is rather disturbing as it goes from nothing to sudden very high volume and intense bouts of Barry-Lyndon-style music, often covering up dialogues.
My guess is that the film wants to expose the multifaceted religious backgrounds of Malaysia, but I honestly feel that I have lost in translation an essential part of this movie's message. One thing I am sure of it's that the protagonist Fatimah comes out as a semi mentally-challenged human being. Why? I will pass the question on to the future audience.
