RIFLE RANGE BOY: The devil is in the details

Andhaghaaram (Darkness, Tamil; 2020)

Netflix
Story and Direction: V. Vignarajan

At first look, the storyline suggests that this film will be one with scares and screams. Midway through the movie, you think it is a remake of Hollywood's 'What Lies Beneath' where the dead communicates with the living to uncover a murder. The thing done differently is that two dead people (spoilers) are communicating with the protagonist. The protagonist, Vinodh, appears to be going into paranoid schizophrenia ever since his best buddy died. He feels guilty as he had gifted his friend a book on the subject of occultism. He thinks his friend was pushed to suicide after delving into the book.

Ever since a rotary phone was installed in his apartment, Vinodh feels like he is being watched. His girlfriend arranges for a therapist.

Another plot is about a blind library clerk, Selvam trying to earn enough money for his kidney transplant. He moonshine as a medium. One of the jobs he manages to secure involves exorcising a building. Selvam also inherited a priced building in the heart of town from his father. Selvam's teacher is Vinodh's friend's sister. This is how Selvam and Vinodh get connected.

In another plot, a psychiatrist is confronted by his patient who shoots him and his family. The doctor 'survives' the shooting but his licence is suspended. He visits his patients at home instead.

As the story goes, you soon realise that both Selvam and the doctor are trying to contact Vinodh on his new phone. But the problem is their stories are both told different timelines. Both were dead many months previously and it is their spirits which is doing the job!

Refreshing storytelling makes the audiences connect the dots to get a composite picture of the whole story. The devil is in the details as a line in the movie says. After completing the story, only then you would realise why certain scenes were told in that particular way. It seems no stones were left unturned. The acting is brilliant indeed especially by the character of Selvam. I thought they had got a visually handicapped actor for the role. Googling later, I realised that he had acted in many other movies before. All the actors are new (at least to me) and did justice to their roles.

The movie is almost three hours long but the director managed to capture the suspense. The ending may be perceived as an anticlimax as viewers are used to having melodramatic ends in keeping with the Indian psyche. It is decent enough.