Written and Directed by: Jithu Madhavan
Streaming on Disney+Hotstar.
When I was trying to describe this film after watching it to people, is when I realized how unique of a film it is. It is a slice of life, horror film - blending two polar opposite genres seamlessly into a film. This is the most unique expression of horror I've ever seen - because the horror isn't in your face, but it slowly seeps into the film before you even realize. Of course, over time Malayalam cinema has earned it from the audience that the films will take their own sweet time to establish the world and characters with simple scenes - nothing mind-blowing or amazing or extremely funny - just simple stuff. This film banks on that as well - the opening 30 minutes or so is just establishing characters and the world. And the interesting part is, this world is not even a new interesting world to look out for. It's the most boring, mundane setup ever and even then the film finds its interesting moments.
I like how Malayalam cinema creates tension and horror out of eccentricity of the body language of characters - FaFa in Kumbalangi Nights. The only horror scene in the film was a good one, and because it's the only scene in the film - it felt like they totally earned the suspension of disbelief. Although with this style of horror, the caveat is that you don't take the horror element as seriously. Having said that, horror films always excite me before I watch the film and barely impress me after I watch it. This film def impressed me on so many levels.
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