# Bunohan (2012) Review: Brothers, Blood and Kelantan Myth > Bunohan is Dain Said's moody Malay-language crime fable about three brothers drawn back to their Kelantan village, strong on atmosphere if sometimes opaque. Canonical: https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/bunohan-2012-review/ Published: 2026-07-23 Last updated: 2026-09-24 Author: Kaiser Khan — Founder & Editor Language: English Review basis: direct-viewing Spoilers: none Rating: 3.5/5 ## Verdict Mostly yes. It is a striking, atmospheric Malaysian crime drama for viewers who like slow-burning genre films, though its storytelling can be hard to follow. ## Is Bunohan worth watching? **Mostly yes. Bunohan is one of the most distinctive Malaysian films of its decade, a brooding crime story that feels as much like a folk tale as a thriller.** Dain Said gives the film a powerful sense of place and a haunted, mythic mood that sets it apart from standard gangster fare. The reservation is clarity: the narrative is fragmented and elliptical, and viewers expecting a straightforward action film may find it more puzzling than gripping. ## What is Bunohan about? [Bunohan](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/bunohan-2012/) follows three estranged brothers who return, for three very different reasons, to the village of Bunohan in Kelantan, the north-eastern Malaysian state near the Thai border. One, played by Zahiril Adzim, is a kickboxer on the run after a fight goes wrong; another, played by Faizal Hussein, is a hired killer on a job; the third, played by Pekin Ibrahim, has his own designs on what the family still owns. Their ageing father waits in the village, and the past they all left behind is waiting with him. What follows is a tangle of old grudges, deceit and violence, as the brothers' paths converge in a place that seems to have its own memory. The supporting cast includes [Bront Palarae](https://celluloidscore.com/stars/southeast-asia/malaysia/bront-palarae/), Namron and Wan Hanafi Su. Dain Said wrote and directed the film. It is a Malaysian production in Malay, running 97 minutes, and it won the Golden Hanoman Award at the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF) in 2012. ## A crime story told like a folk tale What makes Bunohan memorable is its refusal to behave like a conventional thriller. Dain Said treats the village, the mangroves and the coastline as characters, and he threads the story with moments of folk mysticism that blur the line between the real and the remembered. The effect is closer to a fable about land, inheritance and betrayal than to a genre exercise, and it gives even simple scenes a charge of unease. The photography is the film's great strength. Heat, water and dusk light dominate, and the camera lingers on landscapes long enough for them to feel threatened, as if the modern world is already coming to take them. For viewers who know Malaysian cinema mainly through studio comedies and horror, it is a revelation of what the country's filmmakers could do with local settings and a serious ambition. ## Hard men, quietly played The cast plays against the genre's usual swagger. Faizal Hussein brings a heavy, weary stillness to his hitman, a man who seems to carry every job he has done in his shoulders, while Zahiril Adzim's fighter is all nervous energy and bruised pride. The fight scenes are brief, raw and physical rather than choreographed showpieces, which suits the film's grim tone. The family drama underneath is where the film is most affecting. These are men who have been shaped by the same father and the same village and have turned out very differently, and the film is interested in what that shared history owes them, and what they owe it. ## Where the fragments don't cohere Bunohan's elliptical structure is also its biggest obstacle. The film cuts between its three brothers without always making their connections or motives clear, and the mythic elements, while striking, sometimes add confusion rather than depth. Some characters are introduced so obliquely that their importance only registers late. It is a film that rewards attention and, ideally, a second viewing, which will frustrate anyone who wants the story laid out cleanly. ## Who should watch Bunohan? It suits viewers who enjoy slow-burning, atmospheric [crime thrillers](https://celluloidscore.com/genres/thriller/) and anyone curious about Southeast Asian art cinema beyond the festival favourites. At 97 minutes it is not a long commitment, but it asks for patience. Expect bursts of brutal violence, including fighting and killing, and a generally bleak tone. Two Malaysian films to pair with it: - [One Two Jaga](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/one-two-jaga-2018/), directed by Bunohan cast member Namron, a grittier Malaysian crime drama rooted in everyday corruption. - [Abang Adik](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/abang-adik-2023/), a more intimate Malaysian film about brothers bound by hardship and loyalty. ## The verdict Bunohan is an ambitious, beautifully shot Malaysian crime fable whose mood lingers long after its plot threads have tangled. Its storytelling is sometimes too oblique for its own good, but its sense of place and its serious, mythic ambition make it well worth seeking out. **Rating: 3.5/5** ## Related title - [Bunohan (2012)](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/bunohan-2012/) ## Editorial - [Editorial standards](https://celluloidscore.com/about/editorial-policy/) - [Report a correction](https://celluloidscore.com/about/corrections/)