KIL 2013

Akil [Redza Minhat] is a young man haunted by depression and the ache of a life he can’t quite fix. Despite several suicide attempts, he keeps surviving, including a grim moment where he pulls a teenage girl back from the edge after a breakup, a confrontation that oddly leaves him unsettled and searching for meaning. When a random flyer promises “suicide services,” Akil discovers the Life Action Bureau (LAB) and feels drawn to the idea of ending his pain. After a quiet consultation with Encik Harun [Harun Salim Bachik], he hires LAB to end his life in an unspecified way, all while remaining unaware of who among LAB’s contractors might carry out the act, or when it will happen.

As Akil tries to rebuild something resembling ordinary life, he meets Zara [Cristina Suzanne], a woman who draws him into a tentative romance. The two grow closer as he begins to see a future he hadn’t allowed himself to imagine. Their bond deepens just as Akil learns he’s being watched by a LAB contractor, a tension that intensifies when they attend a screening of World Without Tomorrow, a film directed by Johan Iskandar. Johan is connected to LAB’s world in unexpected ways, adding layers of complexity to Akil’s fragile hope.

Throughout the days that follow, Akil receives a stream of photographs from LAB—snaps of his daily life, each accompanied by a short note urging him to keep living. The messages momentarily lift him, bringing genuine happiness he hasn’t felt in years. But the illusion sours when Zara is revealed to be the LAB contractor tied to Johan’s case, throwing Akil’s trust into sharper relief. The situation worsens: Akil is kidnapped, photographed, and then released, only to return to a home that has been ransacked. He tries to make a police report, but he struggles to explain the strange, fear-filled events unfolding around him.

In a turn that shatters his sense of safety, Akil travels to a village to visit Aunt Rose [Zaleha Mohamad] and learns dark truths about his family—his mother’s death in an accident that bears the mark of Akil’s mistakes. Back in the city, Zara reveals another layer of her story, hinting at a past bound up with Miss Jasmine [Anne James] and a mysterious medical exchange involving Raj, Jasmine’s son. Returning from the village, Akil discovers a folder filled with photos that seem to document Zara’s victims, a discovery that forces a painful reckoning about who Zara is and what LAB is really doing.

The couple’s conflict crescendos when Akil confronts Zara, who insists she is working with LAB but denies being a killer. They argue, and in a volatile moment Akil asks her to end his life instead, a plea that she seizes with a sharp rebuke and a reminder that she still cares. When he returns home, the LAB contractor assigned to terminate him—Mr. Harun—appears with the intent to execute the contract. Akil pleads to reclaim his life, but Harun’s mission advances, and the act seems imminent.

In the aftermath, Zara searches LAB’s data library for information about Akil’s case, but the window to intervene has closed; Harun is too far along to stop. The story resolves with an epilogue that reframes the whole arc: the pistol used in the supposed termination is revealed to be a toy, and LAB is not a killing agency but a nonprofit focused on preventing suicide. A crucial clarifier comes from Harun, who says Zara is a LAB contractor but not working for him specifically. The film closes on a quiet, suggestive note as Zara treats Akil to a small reward for guessing her exact role within LAB, hinting at a fragile hope that life, even amid doubt, can still hold meaning.