In Zahir Omar’s directing debut Fly By Night, which premiered in Busan last month, Sunny Pang plays Tailo, a taxi driver who runs an extortion operation, targeting well-off people for blackmail out of a Kuala Lumpur airport. He’s helped by dour right-hand man Ah Soon (Eric Chen), as well as his ambitious but rash younger brother Sailo (Fabian Loo) and his dim-witted friend Gwailo (Jack Tan). It’s a well-oiled but cautious and modest operation, and Sailo is chomping at the bit to get to higher-paying jobs. Soon, all threatens to go to hell: ruthless inspector Kamal (Bront Palarae) is set off on the four extortionists’ trail, Sailo and Gwailo bite off more than they can chew when they try to blackmail the mistress (Joyce Harn) of a rich businessman, all the while ratcheting up a sizeable debt with demented mobster Jared (Frederick Lee) after killing a man by mistake at his underground casino. With an ailing mother, a wife and a kid to protect, Tailo is left scrambling to avoid the worst.
