Connect Tamil Movie

Feature Film | 2022 | Horror, Thriller
Critics:
'Connect' largely comes across as an experimental horror movie that had the potential but lacked the tenacity to do bolder things!
Dec 23, 2022 By Baranidharan Sivasankaran


Serious horror movies in Tamil have been dwindling in the recent past, thanks to gangster dramas and a slew of comic horror movies that saturated and mocked the horror quotient. Since we have been exposed to international horrors like the Conjuring series or the Ring series, our benchmarks have skyrocketed.


Director Ashwin Saravanan who is known for his out-of-the-box horror thrillers like 'Maaya' and 'Game Over' has teamed up yet again with his debut movie leading lady, Nayanthara for 'Connect'. He came across as a sophisticated filmmaker who wants to explore the delicate threads of human emotions through horror.


'Connect' is set amidst the first wave of the Covid pandemic in 2020. A family consisting of a father (Vinay), mother (Nayanthara) and daughter (Haniya) with her maternal grandfather (Sathyaraj) is leading a peaceful life. If the pandemic takes away the father's (Vinay who plays a doctor saving the lives of patients during the pandemic) life, to make things worse, the daughter gets possessed by an evil spirit. With both the mother and daughter testing positive for Covid, did they manage to fight the virus and the ghost at once?


The film has been shot on a shoestring budget. The settings were minimal. Most of the time the characters are conversing over a video call. The nuances of talking over the call, the technology aspect of it, and the subtle horror elements that get dispatched through them as a medium have to be applauded. Since we've experienced the scenario firsthand for the last 2 years amidst the raging pandemic, we could feel the 'connect'.


However, this movie largely targets the urban sensibilities or the multiplex moviegoers. Some moments had sudden jitters, and at times it was accompanied by some laughter. The big elephant in the room was the predictable storyline. It is just another exorcist story that has a pandemic backdrop.


With actors like Sathyaraj and Anupam Kher starring and expressing themselves before a PC, and cliches peppered all over, the director seemed to have missed the trick. The movie that experiments mostly with its form does not seem to be getting proper support from the exhibitors as well. The movie that is supposed to be played without an intermission to keep the audience deeply immersed in the horror milieu finds an abrupt interval break for the theatre owners to sell their snacks!


Though Prithvi's music and Manikantan's dark and haunting cinematography set the tone for a haunting experience, an underwhelming storyline saw that the narrative fell flat without causing many twists or turns. E.g. the reason for the girl to be possessed by the spirit was not well established. The quintessential backstory for a horror movie was missing.


The movie can be an OTT watch for a frightful Saturday night! Not worth a visit to the theatres!

Baranidharan Sivasankaran

   

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