26/42
Lela, a tomb keeper, struggles to uncover the truth behind her mother’s mysterious death while haunted by ghosts and burdened by the weight of untold secrets. Lela works with her mother Siti as a mortician before the funeral. Lela is not happy to continue this family profession while her brother has taken on another job. When a friend of Siti’s dies mysteriously, she is disturbed by this. This is followed by Siti’s death which shakes Lela and she realizes that these mysterious deaths were actually murders. While she decides to investigate, another lady dies and they all belong to her mother’s group of friends. As the families refuse the police’s intervention, Lela sets out to gather evidence to prove these deaths as murders and put an end to it. Whether she will be able to save the village forms the rest of the story. The film’s main strength lies in how it uses its female characters, and the defining moment in the film is the gossip spread by them, which instantly elevates the story. The supernatural angle aside, the narrative is kept grounded with occasional scares and the police’s aloofness seems intentional. The performances were good enough and I wish there were more of these women. The flashback is only brief and we never get to fully understand Noor’s story. It probably would have made the film more in line with the good versus evil angle, but at least it would have answered the main question instead of leaving it unanswered. The Corpse Washer makes for a decent watch, helped by a good performance from the lead actress.