Reversi (Reversion) is a 2024 Malaysian romanticscience fictiontragedy film directed by Adrian Teh, who wrote the screenplay with Nazifdin Nasrudin. Starring Beto Kusyairy, Shiqin Kamal, Hasnul Rahmat, Vanida Imran, Azhan Rani, Zahiril Adzim and Qi Razali, the film tells the story of a husband's undying love for his wife and son, who tries his best to right his past wrongs for a better future. The film made its world premiere at the Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy on 2 May 2024, and was released in Malaysian cinemas on 19 December 2024.[1]
Akid, a police officer who is given the ability to travel through the past. The power is inherited from his family, but each time he travels through time, he sacrifices his lifespan. After a tragic accident that befalls his wife and child, Akid tries to change the past for the sake of their future.
The film's director, Adrian Teh, make a cameo appearance as the aikido instructor.
Production
Reversi was directed by Adrian Teh, a Penang-born director best known for his directorial works like Lelio Popo (2010), King of Mahjong (2015), PASKAL: The Movie (2018) and MALBATT: Misi Bakara (2023). Teh began write the film's screenplay in 2015 and according to him, it was written very much longer than PASKAL.[1] After MALBATT was released, Teh decided to take a break from making action films and explored other genres.[1] For the film, he chose to write about the time travel – a concept, he said, that was rarely highlighted in Malay films and use it as a narrative tool to exploring the close relationship between a father and his son.[2] He took the inspiration from his favourite time travel-themed films like The Time Traveler's Wife and About Time.[1]
The film's screenplay was fully completed in 2023. Teh also revamp the script as he wanted a completely different storyline, unlike any other time travel films. He then approach director, Nik Amir Mustapha as he was impressed with the latter's work in 2022 science fiction film, Imaginur, which also starring Beto Kusyairy.[2] Nik Amir, however, withdrew due to his schedulling conflicts. Teh then approached several directors, including Ariff Zulkarnain, but also withdrew from the film due to creative differences.[2] In the end, he had to do it by himself, thinking that he "shouldn't fight fate".[2]
Beto was chosen to play Akid. After a long discussion with Teh, he agreed to took the role after reading the script and acknowledged that Reversi was intended to tackling contemporary issues.[3] For the character, Teh puts two conditions in Akid's story: "First, he can only return to the past after 18 years and the second, he had to endure the impact of his own act".[1] Teh also utilise a special effects to create the older version of Akid to achieved the better ageing process.[2]
Release
Reversi became the only Malaysian film to be shortlisted at the competition section of the Udine Far East Film Festival (FEFF) in Italy and have its international premiere on 2 May 2024.[4] The film was released in Malaysian cinemas on 19 December 2024, seven months after its international premiere.[5][6]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
