Ammu (2022)

Ammu (2022)

Written and Directed by: Charukesh Sekar

Starring: Naveen Chandra, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Bobby Simha

Streaming on Prime Video. 

I loved the idea and the premise. The film is a little in the lines of Gone Girl, although here the woman is clean without any shades of gray. It's essentially about a woman who decides to get back at her abusive husband. The abuse is a tad bit triggering too. It affected me a lot, to an extent where I was expecting a terrific pay off. The abuse reminded me of Secret Superstar, which eventually has a really good pay off. Although in this film, whatever she does to get back at him, the last 45 mins of the film, feels just like one scene instead of a whole act. It's a small loophole she catches onto and acts on it, and it didn't feel like a good enough pay off. She helps an ex-convict, Bobby Simha by seeing some humane qualities in him, and makes life tough for the cop. I think why it doesn't work as much is because, the consequences the cop faces are not really in Ammu's control. She's just doing some damage hoping that there'll be bad consequences to him, which it works. But since the cause and effects are not very direct, it doesn't seem vengeful enough. In the ending, when she faces him and talks to him, it's a good moment, but I wished she faced him, confronted him and attacked him in some ways at least one or two times.

I like how the film explores multiple facets within domestic abuse, like how when the victim tries to seek for help, the perpetrator can emotionally manipulate the victim into not calling them out. The abuse is more than just the physical abuse, it's the mental manipulation too. How the film explored the abuse was terrific and triggering as I mentioned. And the film is technically beautiful too. I just had issues with the writing. With the same first half (setup) and a different second half (pay off), the film could've been completely different and a lot better too. The performances are good . Naveen Chandra is menacing and convincing as a guy who could be good and both be bad. Aishwarya Lekshmi also did a really good job, she has a lot of depth even when she's not doing anything on screen.