Directed by: Amal Neerad
Starring: Fahadh Faasil, Aishwarya Lekshmi
Streaming on Disney+Hotstar.
Loosely based on ‘Straw Dogs’, it’s a very nice survival drama. I like how the film slowly builds up the tension gradually over time. First, they face men ogling when they enter the village. Then Priya sees a man standing outside the window at night. Then, in the bathroom. Then, when they sing a song towards her. The interesting part is about how even the bad guys are written with nuance. They are not outright bad guys right from the beginning. We eventually realize what they are capable of, which Priya had a hunch of all along. I absolutely loved the shot where Priya takes a shower with her clothes on and cries. That one shot, defined the whole film for me – about how suffocating it feels to have to constantly look around for safety, even in your own house. Aishwarya was terrific in that scene. And then the conflict between the couple – about how she essentially tells him to man up. About how she’d have felt safe if her dad was alive. At that point, Abin breaks down because he feels emasculated. That’s his breaking point.
I loved where the film goes in the last 25 mins – it’s essentially a fight for survival. But I felt that, Abin attacking them with a knife, felt like a bit of a jump for his character. Although, without that we’d not have them attack all into the house. But for that, I felt that something like him jamming the door onto someone’s fingers could also have been a good option – without Abin breaking character but also instigating violence. But post that, I liked how the action was shot and I liked how he fights. By the ending, I like how he stamps the insect, indicating that he won’t let anything enter the space. But the way Priya smiles at Abin in the ending, after he puts up the whole fight had me thinking about something – what if a man can’t physically fight for his woman? This way, the film raises interesting questions about masculinity, love and survival.
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