Ethno-Religious Nationalism and the Crisis of Malay Identity in Mat Kilau

Abstract

This article examines the celebrated 2022 Malaysian film Mat Kilau: Kebangkitan Pahlawan (Mat Kilau: The Rise of a Warrior), directed by Syamsul Yusof. Framed as a narrative of Malay heroism through the lens of ethno-religious nationalism, the film functions as ideological propaganda. It reinforces Malay-Muslim supremacy rather than as a unifying nationalistic narrative. By critically analysing the film’s themes and representations, this study determines how it resonates with ongoing political discourses about the perceived decline of Malays, often linked to internal corruption, betrayal, greed, and power struggles. The study employs qualitative methods, including textual analysis of the film’s narrative, visuals, dialogue and an audience reception study conducted through semi-structured interviews with twenty Malaysian moviegoers aged 20 to 55. The interview sample comprises Malays and non-Malays from diverse backgrounds, all of whom watched the film in a cinema or on an online platform. Using Stuart Hall’s Encoding/Decoding model and Benedict Anderson’s concept of imagined communities, the findings reveal polarized audience perceptions of the film. Some interpret it as a celebration of Malay heroism and Islamic values. In contrast, others view it as a manipulative narrative that reinforces divisive ideologies and diverts attention from real socio-political issues. These findings also raise questions about the role of national cinema in nation-building and its contribution to national unity in Malaysia. By incorporating audience reception analysis, the research adds an empirical dimension often missing in film studies, providing a more comprehensive approach to the film analysis at hand.