'Soft porn': Horror movie trailer featuring MsPuiyi too sexy for some Malaysian viewers

Two things are certain in this world: Firstly, if you're in a horror movie and explore abandoned places, you're gonna get into trouble. Secondly, if your name is Siew Pui Yi, controversy will follow.

Upcoming Malaysian movie Pulau has both — a group of attractive youngsters (including MsPuiyi, as she is known) visit an island, refusing to heed the warning of their boatman that "all abandoned islands have their own mystery". What's more, they challenge one another to stay there overnight.

What could possibly go wrong?

After the trailer was recently released, it turns out that it's not the ghosts on the island that are spooking out some netizens, but the swimwear-clad youths engaging in activities which some call "soft porn" — including flashes of kissing and love-making scenes involving the 24-year-old Penthouse and former OnlyFans model-turned-DJ.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ_mbrY11So[/embed]

One tweet said that Pulau is a "porn story" featuring "semi-nude men and women": "According to the story, there's also a pornstar in it?"

Calling for the Malaysian Minister of Communications and Digital Fahmi Fadzil to "be responsible," the Twitter user added: "How can this immoral movie be released in Malaysia?"

This came after a tweet from the minister stating that, in his opinion, the movie trailer was "not suitable to be shown" but that he would leave it up to the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia (LPF) to decide.

Tadi saya ditanya oleh wartawan berkenaan trailer filem Pulau.

Pandangan saya, trailer ini kurang sesuai ditayangkan. Namun keputusan akhir terletak di tangan LPF.

— Fahmi Fadzil 🇲🇾 (@fahmi_fadzil) January 18, 2023

"The reason people don't like this kind of content is that it doesn't even need to be included in the story," one comment on YouTube read. "Trust me, content like this will have a strong impact on our society even if other people think this is 'only a movie'.

"But things like this will begin to break the faith of young people, so please don't go watch it."

Another commenter echoed a quote by Saladin, a 12th century ruler: "If you want to destroy any country without war, make adultery or nudity common in the young generation."

However, reactions to the trailer were not all negative.

One YouTube user claimed the "storyline may be interesting despite the unnecessary soft porn" and posited that people "doing the dirty without minding the place" might be realistic.

A tweet asked: "Where have you been in the last 40 years?

"Horror movies are about young good-looking folks dying due to having sex. The whole premise of It Follows is 'don't have sex'. Scream explicitly told you the tropes. The Pulau trailer looks so damn good here."

The LPF and Home Ministry of Malaysia (KDN) released a joint statement yesterday (Jan 19) which reiterated: "The movie Pulau is a horror movie and not a porno as hyped."

They stated: "LPF found that there were differences between the contents of the trailer that were shown on social media and the contents that were presented for censorship," adding that their oversight extended to film materials shared "except through the Internet".

Pulau also stars Amelia Henderson, Alif Satar, Ikmal Amry, Joey Leong and Sanjna Suri and is set to release on March 9 in Malaysia.

ALSO READ: Hot pink mess: MsPuiyi crashes her Porsche, slapped with fine after police report

drimac@asiaone.com

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