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Sometimes they got it, while other times they sink. That's how I feel about some of the modern ghost features coming out of Asia. 'The Maid' mostly falls in with the former. Yeah it's formulaic by your usual standards, but the low-budgeted slow-burn Singapore entry is sleekly directed with a strong enough platform for the story to open up upon and add some refreshing details to the predictable mixture.A young maid arrives in Singapore to help out the Teo family, who own an Opera troupe. Her arrival goes hand-to-hand with that of the seventh month known as the hungry ghost month. Soon she's seeing ghosts, and the Teo's are worried she's done something to upset them for this to happen. However she learns that she has a striking resemblance to the previous maid who worked with the family, before she disappeared.The execution of the premise isn't as good, as it sounds on paper. The concept behind the plot is actually more curious than that of the linear background story about a family with a secret, which when let out is intensely harrowing if customary. The Chinese customs and believes about the gates of hell opening up for vengeful, hungry spirits to wander among the living seeking closure or revenge in the seventh month of the lunar calendar is ideally enthralling and creepy.Director Kelvin Tong compositional work and placement is a stand-out. Cold, gloomy and haunting imagery is beautifully catered for and Lucas Jodogne's presentable cinematography streamlines the rundown, sapping urban backdrop. The darkness lurking within every alienating corner is shared in the characters' state of minds. Heart-ache, denial and just like the protagonist (wholesomely acted by Alessandra De Rossi) we're left plunged in the dark and distressed by the revelations. The evocative music is skin crawling, as the sound effects have quite a chilling imprint when they break up the silence and terse script with sudden pitches. Some high-strung shocks are foreseeable and shadowy figures flashing by can only do so much. Chen Shu-cheng and Hong Hui-fang deliver rewardingly strong performances.
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