14/30
Lela, a funeral director, struggles to uncover the truth behind her mother’s mysterious deaths while being haunted by spirits and burdened by the weight of untold secrets. Lela works with her mother Siti as a body washer before the funeral. Lela is not happy to continue this family profession while her brother has taken up a different job. When a friend of Siti’s dies mysteriously, she is distraught by it. This is followed by Siti’s death, which shakes Lela and she realizes that these mysterious deaths were in fact murders. When she decides to investigate, another lady dies and they all belong to her mother’s group of friends. With the families refusing to interfere with the police, Lela takes it upon herself to gather the evidence to prove that these deaths were murders and put an end to this. Will she be able to save the village forms the rest of the story. The film’s strength lies in its use of female characters and the pivotal moment of the film is the gossip spread by them that instantly elevates the story. Putting aside the supernatural angle, the narrative is kept grounded with occasional scares and keeping the police away felt deliberate. The performances were good enough and I wish there was more to these women. The flashback is brief and we never get to know Nur’s full story. This probably would have made the film more generic with the good versus evil angle, but at least it would have answered the main question instead of leaving it unanswered. The Corpse Washer is a decent watch helped by the good performance from the lead actress.