KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8  — Crime stories have been a fixture in Malaysian cinema for years, but Macai, the spiritual successor to 2015’s Jagat, delivers a bold and uniquely daring perspective.

Directed by Sun-J Perumal and set in the fictional country of Lingapura, portrayed as bordering Singapore, the film follows a young man named Siam, who becomes entangled in the dangerous currents of street politics, criminal syndicates, and systemic power manipulation in post-Independence society.