MOP
2023 · 9m · Malaysia
Directed by Joon Goh
Tones: absurdist, dark, darkly comic, provocative
During a lunch break at a discount furniture store on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, an employee's minor mistake — forgetting chili sauce in her boss's lunch order — triggers a twisted sadomasochistic power struggle that reveals the dark nature of their relationship.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Butoh-choreographed bodies as furniture in a Malaysian discount store sadomasochism standoff — that's deranged in the best way and exactly the kind of cultural specificity I want from shorts. 227K YouTube views says other people felt it too.
Goh's Butoh-choreographed body-as-furniture conceit is precisely the formal audacity I find compelling, in the lineage of Yorgos Lanthimos's deformed-body grammar and Apichatpong's tactile slowness. 227K YouTube views suggest the gesture lands.
227K views on SOTW for nine minutes of Malaysian power-struggle horror with bodies choreographed into furniture by Butoh's Din Sabah — that's the unusual-element actually delivering, because Butoh applied to corporate-power-dynamic horror is a deeply specific physical vocabulary. The view count tells me the dance read.
Reviews
Smart, polished cinematography and fast pacing with strong chemistry between leads. Mia Sabrina has the more difficult role and delivers excellently. Daring for Malaysian cinema given the country's strict content regulations.
An unfiltered look at power, submission, and survival. It did way better than expected, especially for something made with almost no money.
Festivals
- Fantastic Fest 2023, Best Picture
- QCinema International Film Festival 2023, Jury Prize